Aliens: Homefront
by Dr1ft3r0I
Summary: Tau Ceti has been lost, and the survivors taken home to Earth. But the shadow agents of The Company are everywhere, and the next strike to the hearts of the U.S.D.F. may very well be in their own backyard. The battle for home will soon begin.
1. Arc 1: Tau Ceti: Brief and Drop

Aliens: Homefront

"_Drop in t-minus ten, nine, eight…_"

I tried to calm myself down before the dropship I was in fell out of the _Nevada_, a _Continental_ class destroyer that was currently in orbit above Tau Citi, a recently colonized planet that had sent out a distress beacon to Earth about two months ago. The transmission had said something about a xenomorph outbreak, so I personally expected little to no survivors on the surface.

"_Four, three, two, one, drop._"

_CHA-CHANK._

I was slammed into the upper part of my restraining harness, the _g_'s that everyone else in my squad was experiencing sending blood straight to my head.

"So, _el-tee_, what happens when we get down planet-side?"

I looked over to the speaker, who in this case, was one of the most recent additions to the squad. The tags on his chest plate identified him as Private (Pvt.) Jorgensen. He looked to be fresh out of high school and boot, young enough to have me question if he was old enough to have even gone through jump training.

"Simple, soldier, we do our jobs." I looked at everyone else in the ship as it rocked, a sign that we had at least gotten into the planet's atmosphere. "Listen up. When this bucket gets to thirty thousand feet, we jump and land close to the command center." A holographic display of the area in question materialized before my troops. "Once, we land, we secure the complex and eliminate any hostiles we find. After the Marines secure the residential area, we will rendezvous with them over here at this outpost. Any questions?"

A hand was raised. Looking at the person, I saw that it was yet another green trooper. "Fisher, this not frakkin' kindergarten, put your hand down and talk," I said sharply to Pvt. Fisher.

"Sir, what if there are Xenos on the planet?" the girl asked, fear clearly evident in her voice. I closed my eyes and sighed. _Here I go again with the lecture_.

"I will say this only one more time for those of you who refused to listen the first time." I looked at all of the fresh soldiers in turn, starting with Fisher. "If you see a Xeno, shoot it. Do **not** let it come close to you. It is probably going to be stronger than you are in a hand to hand fight, and it has more weapons on it than we do. If you do end up getting up close and personal with one, be sure not to get hit by its blood. Molecular acid is a bitch." I pointed to my left forearm guard, which had miraculously survived a blood-splash from a Xeno and now had a TACPAD on it. _Thank God for large bodies of water_, I thought.

"If you see eggs or facehuggers, back away and toss a grenade or two. Never go anywhere alone and watch your backs. Finally, **never**, under any circumstances, should you try and engage a Praetorian or Queen alone. You do not have the firepower to take them out. Am I understood?"

Everybody in the squad sounded off together. "_SIR, YES SIR!_"

I nodded. "Good. Now pack up and get ready to jump." I released the catch for my harness, watching as the others did the same. I got up and started attaching my gear to hardpoints on my armor. M38S pulse rifle, check. My fifteen one hundred-five round clips for the pulse rifle, check. Fourteen 40 _mike-mike_ grenades for the pulse rifles grenade launcher, check. M1911 with twenty clips of extended .45 ACP ammo, check. Four Mk. 12 fragmentation grenades, check. M7 Urban Plasma Rifle, with five extra batteries, check. Survival kit, check. K-Bar knife, check. Tiny Victini model, check. And last, but certainly not least, helmet.

I smiled as I picked up the helmet. It was a Driftech Active Combat Helmet (ACH) _Bravo_ model, a fairly standard helmet as far as it was concerned. But what was special about this helmet was the fact that was my first helmet, not to mention the first one of its kind to be made. Sure it close to a hundred and fifty years old, but it still worked.

I put the helmet on just as the pilot spoke over the intercom. "_We are approaching the drop zone. Drop in t-minus sixty._"

"Alright people, buckets on! I do not want you to be asleep when we hit the dirt. We drop on my mark," I yelled out to my troops as they put on their jump helmets, checking each other's seals to make sure that they didn't fall unconscious during free fall; if there is one thing I despise (or if it was a civilian, hilarious), its people getting themselves killed through their own stupidity.

I stood by the switch for the ramp, waiting for the pilot to tell me when to open it.

"_Twenty seconds till we reach the drop zone_." Good. It took about fifteen seconds for the ramp to open up after I hit the switch. I turned to the soldiers behind me. "Ladies, how do we go to war?" I asked them innocently.

As one, they all yelled at the top of their lungs, "_Head first into Hell, Sir!_"

"Good," I said, as the pilot announced that we were in the drop zone. "Monnot's Marauders, _fall out_!"

That was the last order I gave them before I stepped off the ramp and into the air. I have to admit, the way the Marines went into combat didn't fit into their attitude. We Airborne guys knew how to get into a combat zone; head first at a few hundred miles an hour, popping the chute at one thousand feet, and then blast the living hell out of every hostile on the way down and on the ground.

I smiled to myself. Damn, I love raining death from above.


	2. Arc 1: Tau Ceti: First Contact

Aliens: Homefront

_May 15, 2176 _

_Video Log: Pvt. Frost, Dean, Security Clearance Level Grey_

_Mission Time: 00:00:07, Local Time: 07:18:45_

Frost wondered to himself just what the hell he had done to deserve a six mile free fall to an alien planet that was possibly crawling with Xenos. _Oh, that's right_, he thought, _I accidentally shot and killed a cop_. Back then, he wasn't Dean Frost, soon to volunteer in the U.S. Army, he was Harold Jones, a seventeen year old nobody from Chicago who had just gotten on the wrong side of the law.

Frost looked at his jump helmet's altimeter. Twenty thousand feet and still falling fast. He quickly looked to see who was relatively close-by. There was Fisher in "front" of him, the red cross of a medic clear on her musette bag. Jorgenson, who also went by the name of "Thor," was in front of Fisher, mostly because of the M65/B smart gun and demolition packs that he was carrying. Sergeants Bentley and Sanchez were close to the head of the formation, flanking Wolf. But the one person at the head of the pack was the _el-tee_, who, if the rumor-mill was to be believed, was the heir of a multi-trillion credit company.

Frost looked again at the altimeter. Ten thousand feet. He would have to pull the chute soon, but only when the lieutenant pulled his chute first. Frost had to marvel at the man's leadership style, which was unusual to say the least. From what Frost had heard in boot camp, and jump training, the man did almost everything alongside his men. Eat, sleep, shit, fight; the only thing the el-tee didn't do was get laid. But then again, the man was (supposedly) getting ready to propose to his girlfriend when all of a sudden, the girl gave him a Dear John letter and a package filled with the stuff they had gotten over the course of their relationship; a real double-barreled hit in the balls.

"_All units, pull your chutes!_" the lieutenant's voice yelled over the radio in Frost's helmet. Frost instinctively pulled the cord for his primary chute to open. Only for nothing to happen. Feeling panic rise up from his stomach as he passed squad member after squad member, Frost pulled the cord for the reserve chute, only to receive nothing. "_Frost, pull your chute, your dropping too fast!_" Frost heard the officer shout at him over the COM.

"I'm trying sir!" the now panicked soldier yelled back over the radio. He pulled the last cord, which would release the emergency parachute. When he didn't feel the sudden jerk of deceleration of a deployed chute, Frost knew he was going to die. He closed his eyes as he expected the inevitable.

Which never came as his body jerked, his orientation now right-side up. Frost looked down at the now slowly approaching ground in amazement. _How in the hell-_, thought the private before an electronic voice spoke up.

"It's alright private, I got ya."

Frost looked up to see the _el-tee_ looking down at him, his helmet's carbon black visor blocking the man's look of worry.

Pvt. Frost almost passed out as they landed on the ground. He did however, piss his pants.

_May 15, 2176_

_Video Log: Pvt. Jorgenson, Daniel, Security Clearance: Grey_

_Mission Time: 00:03:02, Local Time: 07:21:40_

Pvt. Daniel "Thor" Jorgenson watched as the rest of the squad detached themselves from their chute harnesses and brought out their assigned weapons. Pvt. Fisher, the squad medic, was making sure that Frost, or "Iceman," as Thor liked to call him, was alright.

Iceman's near death by chute failure scared the living s#*t out of Thor. Hell, the only reason the smart gunner hadn't lost his spotter/ass-watcher was because through some miraculous stroke of luck, the lieutenant had literally grabbed the private's harness just as the latter was passing by. How the two of them managed to land without severely injuring themselves, Thor would never know.

The squad had landed about three klicks away from the colony's command center, in the middle of a wide open plain of grass, with only a few hills to provide them cover, the two story buildings of the colony a klick distant. The planet's major sun was already rising, which from what info Thor had gotten about Xenomorph habits, would drive the bugs back into a dark hole. Which in a colony that had probably lost power, was just about everywhere inside a structure.

"Yo, Thor, we're moving out." Thor turned to see Private First Class (PFC) Malloy waving his arm, beckoning him to move. Thor nodded to the man with the flamethrower and lumbered over to where Iceman was sitting on the ground, the medic only just leaving him to talk to the lieutenant.

"Hey, Iceman," he said to the much smaller man on the ground. Iceman looked up. "We're moving out. You think you can still spot?"

"The hell I can't you overgrown Norwegian," Iceman snapped back at him as he got up, his M38 at the ready. Thor smiled good-naturedly at his friend.

"Dude, I'm from Wyoming, not Minnesota," the smart gunner replied back.

"Thor, Iceman, shut the hell up and fall in," Lt. Monnot told them over the squad COM. "I want radio silence until we either get to the target, or you make contact. Now hump it troopers."

Thor gave a look and a shrug to Iceman that said _oh, well, time to get to work_. Iceman nodded as he stood back about two meters away from Thor in the squad's loose formation.

They soon started walking.

_May 15, 2176_

_Video Log: Cpl. Wolf, Ryan, Security Clearance: Blue_

_Mission time: 00:12:36 Local Time: 07:31:44_

Wolf hefted his M65/B Tactical Assault Gun, or Vera as he liked to call it, as the squad neared the colony's south-eastern section, which was the only area of the colony that had the shortest distance between the border and the command center. He had been with Lt. Monnot for several years now, and even two years before then, in high school. But then again, that was before the…incident.

Wolf glanced over to his spotter, Corporal (Cpl.) Madeline Rushmore. She shook her head. No movement as of yet. Yet Wolf almost fired when music started to play all of a sudden.

_What the hell?_ Wolf thought. _Damn bugs are gonna hear it and…wait a minute, don't I know this music?_ And indeed, the music did sound familiar to Wolf, and if the slow tapping of Lt. Monnot's finger on his gun meant anything, so did he.

Monnot turned towards Staff Sergeant (SSgt.) Robert Sanchez. "Bandito, take your team and find whatever's making that racket," the officer ordered the non-com. Bandito nodded. He walked away, Thor, Fisher, Iceman, and Malloy following him.

The rest of the squad continued to move towards the command center. It was about five minutes before Lt. Monnot stopped the squad, his raised fist telling them everything they needed to know.

"Two contacts, one o' clock at fifty meters, closing fast," Rushmore said quietly over the COM. Monnot nodded.

"Confirmed. Weapons hot people." Wolf hefted Vera as the _el-tee_ said this, the gun's safeties off as the M65/B's massive barrel pointed in where Wolf thought the possible tangos were going to appear.

_May 15, 2176_

_Security Cam #51, South-East Sector, Area 12[Video Only]_

_07:42:34_

_The five man team sees an obviously scared worker turn the corner towards them, his location about fifteen meters away. The leader of the team, as he silently gives his team an order to hold fire, talks to the man. The worker waves his arms wildly, saying a warning to the team before a xenomorph crashes on top him, the creature now beginning to devour the man alive. _

_The team of soldiers open fire on the xeno, knowing that the chances of the worker being alive at the end of this are close to non-existent. The alien cries in pain as hundreds of rounds go through and explode in its hide, its body now basically sawn in half as the team continues to rain death upon it. _

_When they stop firing, the alien is lying in pieces, the creature's acidic blood destroying the worker and some of the surrounding soil. The team leader turns his head towards his men, and beckons to the North-West, towards the Colony Command Center. They soon start running in that direction. Two hours after they leave, the camera shakes, and seconds later, is destroyed. _

_They last thing that the camera saw was the shadow of something that was clearly not the usual xenomorph._


	3. Arc 1: Tau Ceti: Rain

Aliens: Homefront

_May 15, 2176_

_Video Log: SSgt. Sanchez, Robert, Security Clearance: Green_

_Mission Time: 00:15:44 Local Time: 07:34:51_

Staff Sergeant Robert Sanchez, call sign "Bandito," was not in a good mood. His small, five man team was walking to a mostly powered down nightclub that had foolishly been built without windows, and he didn't know if there were any xenomorphs inside. The music that was blaring out from the speakers inside the structure was apparently quite loud, since Sanchez could feel the heavy bass notes through his boots. He motioned for PFC. Malloy to cover the front door, since the subordinate soldier was the one with the flamethrower.

Bandito motioned for the rest of the squad to take a basic room clearing position…well, basic for fighting xenomorphs. He nodded towards Malloy, who punched the access panel and backed off, flamethrower trained on the door. For a brief moment, nothing happened.

Yet almost everybody in the fireteam shot their weapons when something came barreling out of the building.

"Hold fire!" Bandito yelled out, his fist raised in the air. "It's just a…fox?"

Indeed, the creature in question was a fox. The animal was about three feet long with its rather bushy tail, and about a foot tall at the shoulder. The fox was reddish-brown in color, and was currently wrapping itself around Iceman's legs, whining to get his attention. Iceman however, turned stiff as a board, his face drained of blood.

"Dude, what's wrong, it's just a cute little fox," Thor said to his spotter. "I mean, it looks domesticated." The smart-gunner kneeled down and proceeded to scratch the fox around its ears, eliciting a soft purr from the canid, along with a fast wagging of its tail.

"Thor, just get that thing away from me!" Iceman hissed, his face contorted with fear. Thor shrugged and picked up the fox by the neck. He lifted it up to his head and looked closely at it.

"Hmm, says here that your name is Dmitri," Thor said to the fox. His response was a wag of the tail. "And that you are owned by a Dr. Freeman." The tail wagged much more fiercely. "Was he taken?" Thor, as well as the rest of the fire-team, watched in amazement as Dmitri shook his head fiercely and yipped.

Thor looked at Bandito with puppy dog eyes. "Sir, can we keep him?" Bandito resisted the urge to faceplant himself just in time to hear a much more disturbing hiss.

"Cover the door!" He yelled, his shotgun now pointed at the door.

Iceman whipped out his motion tracker and looked at it. "Shit!" he cried out, "we have contacts swarming from twelve and two!"

"Form up!" Bandito yelled out, "Don't let those things near you!" The staff sergeant pulled out his M38 pulse rifle as the first xenomorph reared its banana shaped head out from behind the door to the club. Malloy also pulled his pulse rifle out, but didn't get a chance to fire it as another Xeno came out from an alley behind him. As Malloy turned to face the Xeno at his back, the one in the doorway lunged towards him, only to be torn apart by a hailstorm of 10x35mm FMJ rounds. Malloy shot and killed his Xeno, then turned towards the staff sergeant and nodded his thanks.

The fireteam soon formed up in a circle and started backing away from the building, Thor covering their rear with a hailstorm of fire as Xeno after Xeno came out from and around the club. Bandito contacted the el-tee.

"Sir, we have multiple contacts coming down on us! Request Strike Package Red Bravo!" the squad leader yelled into his helmet mike. Next to him, Pvt. Fisher fired her pulse rifle at a Xeno a few meters away. The alien burst into caustic pieces, another taking its place soon after.

"_Request acknowledged. Designate target area Bandito, and wipe those things off the map!_" Lt. Monnot spoke back over Bandito's headset.

"Sir, just tell the pilot to aim at us! Those things are on our asses right now!" Bandito yelled back, another Xeno tasting steel coated rounds and falling to the ground.

"_Understood. Oh, and you might want an umbrella, it's going to rain._"

Bandito turned to look at his fire team. "Find cover now, the rain's coming!" he shouted. Everyone started running as the AV-85 Cherokee gunship thundered in low.

_May 15, 2176_

_Video Log: AV-85/ NV95 Nose-Cam_

_Mission Time: 00:18:56 Local Time: 07:38:03_

_The camera focuses on the five man team ahead of a swarm on alien forms. The camera shudders as a salvo of warheads jumps into the camera's view. The missiles tear into the xenos, their limbs flying off and getting cooked by the heat of the blast. For about ten seconds, the camera sees nothing as the gunship circles the site, the ships GAU-12 30mm cannon spinning at the ready. _

_The dust clears, showing that most, if not all the xenos are dead. "Marauder_,_ package has been delivered. Zone cleared," the gunship pilot says over the radio to the ground team leader. The pilot receives confirmation from the lieutenant, and takes his aircraft higher, so that the colony's possible Anti-Air defenses don't attack by mistake – or if something else decides to attack. _

_Video Log: 2Lt. Monnot, Gabriel, Security Clearance: Red_

_Mission Time: 00:19:59 Local Time: 07:39:06_

I was starting to get worried. Bandito's squad had just called in an airstrike on themselves to get rid of a horde of xenos, and my squad had so far encountered only a single one.

_Scree – Cha-Boom!_

I stood corrected. Make that _one_ more xeno encountered. I looked over to Keith, whose shotgun barrel was lightly smoking, the remains of the unlucky xeno melting about five meters away.

"Sir, contacts at one and eleven, seventy and closing!" Rushmore shouted out. I checked my helmet's motion tracker to confirm her statement. It wasn't that I didn't trust her – no one gets on my squad if I don't trust them – but the trackers that Weyland – Yutani had recently produced were showing signs of being overly sensitive. It was able to not just detect rats moving, but also the vibrations of a running air conditioner. In my experience (and the Army's, thank God), the trackers made by Driftech beat the cheap-ass pieces of crap that Yutani made to a pulp (I thank God also for the Army having such a large damn budget, I was surprised that the Navy didn't get a budget raise). For good reason too, since the possible tangos were only fifty meters away from us, and were about twenty feet off the ground, on average. Very bad in an urban environment like we were.

"Circle up, people, we have 'em high," I told them over the radio. Wolf raised Vera in the general one o'clock direction; I personally covered the eleven with my pulse rifle. Bentley covered the rooftops in between with a Driftech M84/B Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR). Keith and Rushmore covered our six.

That was when a small flood of xenomorphs came crawling over the roofs and walls, eager to devour – or impregnate – us. "Open fire!" I yelled, my pulse rifle blasting away at several xenos. The roar of Vera drowned out the sounds of a dozen mulched xenos; the sharp crack of Bentley's DMR heralded the exploding heads of a handful, and I had already killed about ten xenos when I yelled out "Empty mag!"

I quickly ejected the pulse rifle's spent mag, grabbed a new one, slammed it home, charged, and aimed, just as a rather hungry xeno got in my face. Literally, as both it and I crashed onto the ground. I could faintly hear the yells of concerned teammates, but right now, getting the slobbering alien off of me was top priority. It hissed at my face, drool dripping in torrents onto my visor. I punched the thing in the throat, which surprisingly made it loosen its grip on me. That gave me the opportunity to donkey kick its ass off of me.

It landed about five feet away from me, and it would have gotten up if I hadn't shot it with a plasma round from my M7. It's head was essentially carbonized, and shattered, as the plasma round went through it, off to hit some other alien. Actually, now that I have about two seconds to study my situation as I pick up my pulse rifle, the number of xenos seemed to have dropped.

_Screee- VWAAMM BOOM!_

I know the sound of ballistics fire when I hear it, and I most certainly know the sound of energy weapons going off. So it came as no surprise to me that the rest of my squad brought their weapons to bear of the unidentified contact in front of us. It did come as a surprise to me, however, to see that it was a scientist holding a still smoking plasma rifle; from the looks of it, I'd say it was a XPP – 2/A, an early model of plasma rifle. The scientist had idea how lucky he was that the rifle didn't simply go nuclear on him.

"Sir, I'd say thanks for attempting to save our asses, but I need to know your name, position, and a health physical provided by our medic, before you can get within ten feet of us. Oh, and you may want to drop the gun, I would not trust it the next time you fired it," I said, M38S pointed at him. I just couldn't get this feeling out the back of my head that I knew him, but just who was he….

"I can assure you, I have not been implanted," he answered, lowering the gun. "My name is Cameron Freeman, and I'm the facility director and civilian liaison to Driftech Industries."

Oh. _Now _I remember him. "Good to see you too Freshman. Now, where are the others, and how's Dmitri doin'?"


	4. Tac Files 1

**Tactical Files, Compiled and Abridged, Data-stream #1**

**Driftech**: Founded in the mid twenty first century, Driftech quickly established itself as a worthy competitor to both Weyland Industries and the Yutani Corporation. At first, the company focused on military projects, the now moth-balled Temporal Manipulation Project being its most well-known. However, in 2126, advances in quantum technology allowed for near instantaneous travel between the stars, as well as reduced travel time for existing ships. The Quantum Gate and Deep Space Aperture Drives, respectively, propelled the company onto the galactic market.

While Driftech makes no terraforming claims, the products, many military in nature, are renowned for their superior quality. In a weapons test for the United States Army and for NATO forces, the M38 series of pulse rifles outperformed Weyland-Yutani's M41 pulse rifles in all tests, including acid resistance. The M7 Urban Plasma Rifle is another well-known product exclusive to the U.S. Army.

In terms of protection, Driftech has always been known for their love-or passion, and to some, obsession,-of powered armor. While the first models were remarkable in the fact that they worked, their real successes were in their Reflex series of armor. Besides a full body flex-carbon body suit, a layer of impact absorbing gel, and a carbon nano-weave, Reflex armor is admired for its synthetic muscle fiber bundles in key joints, providing the soldier with increased survivability through dodging. That and Driftech is regarded as experts in the art of on the field modifications and adaptability. Which is why their armor is highly customizable to suit mission needs in the ever-changing world of modern combat.

**M38 Pulse Rifle**: The workhorse of NATO and the U.S. Army for over twenty years, the M38 Individual Combat System is not so much a radical gun as it is reliable. With a barrel length of sixteen inches, the weapon in theory is not suited for use as an assault rifle; the main difference between it and the M41 series is that along the barrel are a pair of magnetic rails, capable of sending the weapon's 10x30mm Semi-Armor Piercing High Explosive [SAPHE] rounds at increased ranges with greatly improved accuracy.

While built similar to the M41, the M38 has several key differences. First, the M38 is an accurate rifle, even without the magnetic rails. Second, weight. While the M38 has magnetic rails, the rails are made of a ferric compound that is relatively lightweight, saving the load born by the soldier. Also, while the M41 is capable of firing 30mm grenades with carrying accuracy and distance, the M38 fires 20mm High Explosive, Low Impact grenades with pinpoint accuracy at ranges up to five hundred yards. Finally, the M38 is fully capable of taking on the more exotic strains of the Archeron Xenomorph.

**M65/B Tactical Assault Gun**: Driftech's answer to Weyland-Yutani's M56 and M57 Smart-guns, the M65/B is the latest in Driftech's long line of high performance weaponry. A gas operated, belt fed machine gun, the Tactical Assault Gun [TAG] fires a four hundred 14.5x95mm drum magazine at a rate of nearly two _thousand_ rounds per minute. While the rounds are not self-guided, they are typically mass reactive are quite effective on many flesh and blood targets, as well as lightly armored vehicles. The TAG is fully capable of mounting an M98/B Motion and Elevation Tracker on it a pair of side rails.

**Xenomorph-Drone**: The basic unit of any xenomorph hive, the drone performs many tasks that would be translated as menial labor. These tasks range from bringing in hosts, expanding the living areas of the hive, and otherwise maintaining the overall health of their colony. Drones are only slighter stronger than the average human, and are slightly smaller as well. Physically, they are easier to kill than the warrior class, but can still be dangerous with their natural weaponry of tooth, nail, and tail.

**Xenomorph-Warrior**: Highly aggressive, warriors are often compared to the U.S. Marines of old; tempermental, dangerous, and very tough to get rid of. Twice as strong as a normal human, warriors kill first and harvest hosts later. Often, warriors are used to get rid of any resistant fighters in any nearby civilized area, and they will defend the hive until the intruders have been eliminated, or they are dead. Relatively easy to kill, with come learning and strategy capacity.

**This is the first in a series of filler sections I'll have for the story. This will provide a bit of extra backstory and info for the clueless among us. And yes, I will soon be working on this story some more. And if you have an original character you want to see in the story, PM me. Give me name, occupation (Marine, Soldier, Employee[job title optional], age, gender, and personality. But be warned, I will NOT accept Yautja OCs; I want this to be a strictly Aliens fanfic. And there will be many types of alien, including the all-new Crusher from 'Colonial Marines,' plus a few Runners and others from AVP: Extinction. As to what will appear, there was a clue in chapter two. Finally, reviews are welcome! Thanks for reading, and stow the incinerator units marines!**


	5. Arc 1: Tau Ceti: Jarheads

Aliens: Homefront

_May 15, 2176_

_Video Log: Maj. Tanner, Jonathan, Security Clearance: Yellow_

_Mission Time: 00:22:34 Local Time: 07:41:29_

United States Colonial Marine officer Major Jonathan Tanner watched as his platoon marched into the colony's residential area. Currently, the Airborne unit had just endured a massive xeno assault, and their AV-85 Cherokee gunship had mopped up about half of them. But that still left nearly half a colony's worth of bloodthirsty aliens to deal with.

"Sir, Kestrel Actual is on the horn. Says he's found the facility director," said PFC. Wiegand, the Marine platoon's resident communications expert. Tanner looked over at him and nodded.

"Anything else?" he asked, keeping watch for signs of xeno activity.

"Negative sir."

"Very well. Tell Kestrel that we're halfway done with the sweep. Once we are, we can focus on that outpost," Tanner stated, walking up to a nearby pre-fab building door and prepped his M41A/2 pulse rifle. Quickly coming up beside and behind him were Private Stanley Jenkowitz, Private Humphrey Bogart, and Corporal Nathan van Hold. Of the three, only Bogart had an M240 Incinerator Unit, and van Hold had switched his M42 Designated Marksman Rifle for his pulse rifle, though his lacked the over and under 30mm grenade launcher.

Nodding, Tanner turned and hit the access panel to the door. With agonizing slowness, the door opened, revealing nothing but murky darkness. Switching on their shoulder mounted lamps, the four Force Recon Marines entered what had used to be a recreation hall of some sort. What Tanner immediately noticed was the sheer volume of blood coating the walls. What came next was the giant hole in the floor. A bug hole much too big for a Warrior or Drone to make.

"Wiegand, tell Kestrel we found a bug hole. Looks like we know how they got in. But it's too big for a normal xeno. Tell him to watch out for Praetorions or worse," Tanner said into his mic, just as a low hissing sound reached his ears.

"Sir, they're coming in! We need to get outside now!" shouted van Hold, backing away from the hole. Tanner agreed.

"Marines, fall back to rally point Bravo, we have tangos incoming, and they're not happy!" Tanner yelled into his mic, firing his pulse rifle into the hole before backing away. Alien screams of pain resounded from the hole, and as Tanner exited the building, the first of many shiny xenomorph heads popped up. The Marines did their best to make it to the rally point, a road intersection only three hundred meters from the colony command center, but the xenos were faster. Despite the combined firepower of the Marines' M56/B Smartguns, flamethrowers, and their scouts' pinpoint killing, the alien horde kept advancing, and to Tanner's horror, kept dragging off or slaughtering his men. By the time they did reach the rally point, the Major's platoon had been reduced to a squad and a rifle team.

Looking back now that they were at the rally point, Tanner gulped as he saw the aliens swarm towards him and his men. He looked at what remained of his Marines and nodded grimly. The remaining Marines huddled into a circle and fired into the ever encroaching horde. Ten seconds later, the xenos were about thirty meters away when Tanner heard the sound of a plasma weapon charging. He almost jumped out of his skin when a massive green ball of energy flew over his head and devastated a portion of the charging aliens. Several more plasma blasts flew overhead, and Tanner heard van Hold whistle. Turning around, the Marine commander saw Kestrel, along with a few others from his squad, holding an XPP-2/A Plasma Gun, the muzzle quickly glowing green in preparation for another charged shot.

"Eagle, get _DOWN_!"

Tanner dropped to the ground as Kestrel fired his gun, the sizzling orb of energy passing over Tanner and instantly making his back sweat as it passed over him. The blast destroyed roughly twelve xenos and after that, the bugs quickly turned tail and ran. Getting up, Tanner saw Kestrel come up to him, shouldering the still smoking plasma weapon. "You alright sir?" Kestrel asked, head tilted as his carbon black visor partially cleared.

Tanner shook his head. "Lost two and a half squads before you showed up. There were just so damn many of the little bastards." Kestrel snorted.

"I could tell. Anyway sir, we have access to the colony command center. We have survivors in there too, and from what Doctor Freeman here says," Kestrel pointed back at a scientist near the back of his squad, "We have a few colony peacekeepers and some nice hardware to test out as well."

Corporal van Hold looked at Kestrel at the mention of "hardware." "Sir, if I may ask, what kind of hardware?" the Marine NCO asked the Army officer.

"New guns, some armor mods for the Reflex suits, maybe a converted power loader. Nothing much, considering that this was an Army funded installation," Kestrel said shrugging. Tanner looked at Kestrel incredulously.

"Nothing much?! Lieutenant, if this place has that much hardware, then-"

"Major, if I may," Dr. Freeman interrupted. Tanner looked at the scientist and grunted. "We may have the weaponry, but we only test it. We don't stockpile enough ammunition to deal with this kind of infestation."

The Major nodded. "Alright then doctor, what kind of ammunition _do_ you have enough of?"

Freeman looked up in recollection. "We have…four dozen M38 Pulse Rifle magazines for five rifles, two Tactical Assault Guns with three drums each, a single M56/C with five drums, and what's left of our automated sentry system."

Kestrel looked over at Freeman. "Thanks Freshman. Sir, I recommend that we fall back to the colony command center, refill on ammo, and get a better understanding of what the hell we're up against."

Tanner reloaded his pulse rifle and looked at Kestrel. Kestrel and Tanner looked at their respective teams and signaled them to form up. With the Airborne team, Kestrel himself took point, and with the Marines, it was van Hold and Private Bissmeyer with their M42 DMRs. Moving quickly, the troopers and scientist rushed to the biggest building in the colony. After five minutes, the group reached the command center, where Freeman walked up to the blast door and punched in the access code. With a groan, the thick metal door opened, and the doctor was greeted by a pulse rifle muzzle in his face.

"Have you been infected?" asked the security guard, eyeing Freeman suspiciously.

Freeman rolled his eyes. "Westman, if I were, would they continue to let me live?" Freeman pointed back at the Marines and Army soldiers. The guard looked at them and nodded.

"Good point sir. Alright, all of you get in, those bugs love open house invites!" the guard yelled, waving them all in. The troopers and scientist rushed in, and after they got in, the guard quickly shut the door and went with them. Kestrel took off his helmet and sighed, running a glove through his dark, thick hair.

"Freshman, where's the CIC?" he asked, clipping his helmet onto his belt. Freshman pointed up a flight of stair and gave him directions.

Most of the Marines and Soldiers were sent to the colony's atrium, where most of the survivors. Corporal van Hold walked among them, looking at how grim a lot of them were when his fellow squad mate Burke came up to him.

"Yo Nate, how many do you think are in here?" Burke asked, shouldering his pulse rifle. Nathan shrugged as a scientist came up to him, an especially stark expression on her face. Looking at her name tag, Nathan mentally groaned.

Looking up and straight into her eyes, Nathan sighed as he spoke to her. "Hello, Larissa."

The woman looked at Nathan coldly. "Hello Nathan. So, how are you?"

"Fine. You?"

"Could be better."

"Good to know. So, how many are left?"

Larissa looked over the survivors. "I'd say around eighty to ninety people, myself included. Why?"

Nathan sighed. "Because we just got ambushed by roughly the entire colony Larissa. And that may prolong the time for civilian extraction. You included."

Larissa raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'm sorry for your losses. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to report to Mr. Freeman." The young woman huffed and turned away. Burke leaned in close to Nathan as Larissa walked off.

"Damn dude, how do let a fine piece of ass walk away like that?" he asked. Nathan looked at Burke coldly.

"She's my sister."

Burke jerked back in surprise. "Really? No shit? Is she single?" Burke saw Nathan look at him evilly. "But I think dating her would be like dating you, so maybe not."

'_van Hold, Burke, report to the CIC now,_' ordered Tanner over their radio. Nathan nodded briefly at Burke before answering.

"Yes sir, be there in three. Burke, you heard him," Nathan said, walking off to the door. The two Marines were about to leave the atrium when the lights went off.

"Son of a bitch!"


	6. Arc 1: Tau Ceti: Atrium

Aliens: Homefront

_May 15, 2176_

_Video Log: Cpl. Bronson, Samuel , Security Clearance: Grey_

_Mission Time: 00:31:45 Local Time: 07:54:21_

Corporal Sam 'Bron' Bronson looked up in apprehension as the lights went out. Reacting instinctively, he switched on his shoulder lamp, others around him in the atrium doing the same. The forty-seven year old Smart-gunner looked around and saw that the two Army guys with heavy weapons had gone to the second level with their spotters, with said spotters adjusting their trackers.

"Sir, contacts!" yelled out Private Norton, his face etched in fear as he hustled over to Bron.

"Where?!" asked Bron in frustration, clicking off the safety of his weapon. The private gulped.

"They're coming right at us sir," Norton said shakily. Bron saw van Hold come up and put his hand on the fresh grunt's shoulder. The private visibly relaxed.

"_Marines, protect those civilians at all costs! Make your shots count!_" yelled Major Tanner over the radio. Bron looked at the members of his rifle team: Norton, who looked jumpy at the prospect of facing the xenos again, Pvt. Jane Malcovich, who turned the pilot light of her flamethrower off and drew out her pulse rifle; Privates First Class John and Joe DiMaggio, known to the rest of the platoon as The Twins, and then there was Corpsman Haley, who was trying to usher the civilians to the rear of the atrium.

Norton looked at the motion tracker in his helmet's eyepiece. "Contacts at ten, eleven, and one o'clock, seventy meters and closing!" he said quietly, his voice shutting up the civilians.

"_This is Air Wolf, I confirm. Targets at elevations five, ten, and…three below._" Said one of the Army gunners. Bron mentally raised an eyebrow in fear. A xeno was deadly enough in the dark as it was, but throw in vents in the ceiling and floor, and you had problems.

"Jane, Joe, get these civvies out of the atrium now! Everyone else, get ready to rock!" Bron yelled. Seconds later, he saw the first of many xenos come to the command center. Waiting only a second for them to come into range, Bron and the other Marine Smart-gunner, Pvt. Rodriguez, opened fire on the bugs, with John, van Hold, and most of the others focusing fire on the xenos that were starting to come in too close for the Smart-gunners. Bron heard the dull _Thudududud _of the M65/B's firing, their mass reactive rounds simply tearing the xeno apart before they had a chance to get closer.

Suddenly, a floor panel flew off and landed several meters away, revealing a xeno with its deathlike smile. Faster than the poor Marine Private could react, the alien grabbed him by the legs and dragged him under the floor screaming.

"Alverez!" van Hold yelled, aiming his pulse rifle at the spot where the xeno was and killed the next xeno that popped up.

Meanwhile, Bron and Rodriguez were racking up kills with their M56/C Smart-guns. However, they were now down to roughly a quarter of the drum, and the xenos were still coming. That was when Bron saw something that made him scared. In the street, in the middle of the horde, was a single alien. It wasn't a Praetorian, but rather a slightly larger warrior that had a trio of slash marks on its head. It was just standing there, watching as the Marines and Soldiers were killing its brethren. Most of them were Runners, with a sizable Warrior class population in it. But that one xeno was what scared Bron the most.

_Clickclickclickclick_

Shit, gun was dry, and there wasn't enough time for Bron to reload. So he disconnected the gun from his armor and dropped it. Pulling out his M41A/2, Bron looked around the atrium and saw that there were several dead xenos in the room, and only two Marines missing. Amazingly, despite the fact that they were right next to the vent entrances and switchway, the two Army gunner teams were doing a good job at **not** dying. Without warning, a xeno popped out of a vent, right next to a gunner. The gunner didn't shoot; he instead slammed his gun to the side of the xeno's head, and sent it over the railing. The alien crashed to the ground and snarled, only to be blown to bits by Bron's pulse rifle.

"Contact, big one!" Norton yelled, glancing at his motion tracker. Bron turned and looked out the ruined window. The horde of xenos had disappeared, only to reveal a rather big xeno. It looked like a praying mantis, but what were those things crawling on its back?

Bron's eyes widened in horror. "Carrier! Take it out, now!" In that instant, the Marines and Soldiers aimed at the massive xeno and opened fire. The creature screamed in fury as armor piercing, explosive and mass reactive rounds tore it and the twelve facehuggers it carried to shreds. In seconds, the creature was fifteen meters away from being able to leap at the colony's command center when van Hold took out his DMR and fired a single round into the Carrier's skull. The ten by fifty-seven millimeter bullet entered through its mouth and came out from the back of its head, showering the ground outside with bits of skull, brain matter, chiton, and plenty of blood.

The xenos, now wary of the room full of deadly prey, went back, leaving the troops to rest…for now. Bron saw that the odd ball alien from earlier had left too. Suddenly, the lights came back on, briefly blinding the troopers, who let out a collective groan of pain. Bron immediately went into NCO mode.

"Alright, sound off, who's missing?" Bron asked his rifle team.

"Norton?" "Here sir!"

"Jane?" "Still kicking it ol' timer."

"Twins?" "This is Joe sir, where's John?"

Bron looked around the mostly ruined atrium, looking for Joe's sibling. Walking over to a helmet laying on the ground, the Smart-gunner sighed. John was dead. Plain and simple.

"Scratch John. Haley, make sure Joe doesn't lose it," Bron said quietly. Getting up, he saw van Hold looking at him. "So, Dutch," he asked, using the new guy's nickname, "Anyone else go missing?"

'Dutch' shook his head. "We only lost Alverez, thank God. With all these bugs, we need every survivor we can get," he said, shouldering his DMR. Their comms crackled.

"_Bron, Dutch, report to the CIC, we may have a situation here,_" Major Tanner said, his tone saying everything they needed to know. "_And bring Corporal Wolf with you._"

Looking up, the two Marines saw that one of the gunners was listening to his CO on their Comm., and was directing the other three to help the Marines barricade and seal the vents and window. "Corporal Wolf?" Bron asked, hoping that the gunner was indeed this 'Wolf' person.

As it was, the Soldier was indeed Wolf, and he slung out his secondary to meet them, both Bron and Dutch looked at each other uneasily, wondering why anybody would have a shotgun that fired explosive pellets. "Guess we head to Ops," Dutch said, shrugging. The two Marines and Army gunner walked out of the atrium, not quite eager to hear the more likely than not bad news.

The scarred xeno watched as the humans rebuilt their nest. It was somewhat of a lone wolf, if the three scars given by the Mother's guards were anything to go by. But it could smell **her** down inside of that nest. And it had no reason not to try and get to her. Before **he** showed up from the Hive and slaughtered them all.


	7. Tac Files 2

**Tactical Files, Compiled and Abridged, Data-stream #2**

**M7 Urban Plasma Rifle**- After the events of the Vector's Folly Incident, the U.S. Military asked several companies to make a series of plasma weapons that would be effective on the Yautja, who had just let humanity know that there was to be a war in sixteen years. Driftech, as one of those companies, looked at earlier plasma weapons and saw the problem; while the weapons were powerful, they had several critical flaws. One, the power source for many of the early weapons, such as the YPP-2/A, were heavy, bulky, and unsuited for long duration missions. Second, the weapons were highly prone to simply exploding in a miniature nuclear fireball if safety precautions weren't met; the prime example of this was the FN XE-90 Plasma Cannon, which after one shot, required a three minute cooldown. Heat sinks and liquid coolant didn't work.

Driftech's solution to these problems was the M7 Urban Plasma Rifle. At only twelve pounds, the UPR was a revolutionary light weight plasma weapon, and what was suprising about it was that it was still an effective weapon, even if the plasma bolts weren't true plasma. The M7 fired what is termed "cold" plasma; while still hot enough to burn through three inches of tank armor, the rifle is capable of firing three shots within a second, with a cooldown time of only a mere four seconds. The battery weighs only a pound, and contains enough power for the UPR to fire twenty shots.

As a side note, the UPR can be mounted with most modern scopes, a laser sight, and Driftech's experimental ELS Sight System.

**AV-88/S "Cherokee"**- The AV-88 "Cherokee" is the U.S. Army analogue of the C.M.C. UD-4L "Cheyenne" drop ship. First invented in 2136, the Cherokee has become the Army's workhorse, with duties ranging from supply transport, troop shuttling, and close air support. The "Sierra" model of Cherokee, used by U.S. Airborne and Special Operations groups, is equipped with a 50mm Gatling Cannon, dual SRM-15 missile racks, ECM-78 suite, a reduced radar/infrared profile, is quite capable of flying in both atmo and space with equal ease. The Cherokee has a crew of three; pilot, co-pilot and Weapon Systems Officer, and Crew Chief. Max troop capacity, thirty. In essence, a full Airborne platoon.

**Xenomorph, Carrier**- The Carrier strain of xenomorph is one that Marine forces have described as "walking death." While this is true of xenos in general, the Carrier is particularly deadly because they have the unique ability to carry with them Facehuggers, the "baby" stage of the xenomorph life cycle. Just a foot or two shorter than a Praetorian, the Carrier can carry between six to twelve Facehuggers up to a distance of twenty miles in order to spread the Hive. Instead of hands, the Carrier has mantis like claws, and with modified dorsal spikes, can throw Facehuggers at potential hosts. If seen, kill immediately. Beaten only by the "Ravager" strain of xenomorph.

**Xenomorph, Warrior, "Slash"**- This particular Warrior class xeno was sighted outside the Tau Ceti Colony Command Center Atrium by U.S.C.M. Corporal Samuel Bronson. Physically only slightly larger than its fellows, this xeno did **not** engage the Colonial Marine/ Soldier chokepoint in the atrium; it only watched as its siblings were shot to bits. It disappeared during the slaying of the Carrier. This xeno is distinguishable by a trio of scars on the right side of its "face." If seen, be wary. It may be more intelligent than it seems….


	8. Arc 1: Tau Ceti: Nevada and a Chance

Aliens: Homefront

_May 15, 2181_

_Video Log: Cpl. Bronson, Samuel , Security Clearance: Grey_

_Mission Time: 00:34:30 Local Time: 07:56:13_

Bron, Dutch, and Wolf stood in the colony command center, where Dr. Freeman was talking with their respective commanders. "The backup generators will only last about another two hours! Is there any way that you can get the colony off world?"

Kestrel nodded. "The _U.S.S. Nevada_ is in orbit right now, and we have a pair of AV-88's ready to provide support," he told the director. Freeman visibly relaxed.

"Thank you. How soon can they start airlifting the survivors?"

"Now if you want."

A technician came up to the director. "Sir, we have something strange on our scopes," she said, pointing to a terminal on the far wall.

The commanders, NCOs, and the director turned to look at her. "What is it?" Tanner asked.

"I-I'm not sure," the technician replied. "I think it's some sort of off-site building, but we don't have the rights to go out nearly twelve miles away."

Bron and Dutch looked at each other. _Who would put a facility twelve miles away on a frontier world?_

Suddenly, the colony communications expert shouted.

"Sirs, we have comms back online!"

A resounding cheer swept the command room, the only people not cheering were of course, the two soldiers and the four Marines.

"_U.S.S. Nevada_, this is Tau Ceti Colony Command, do you copy?" the communications expert asked over the now fixed radio.

A ten second hiss of static later, and there was a response. It just wasn't the one they were expecting.

"_Tau Ceti, this is the _Nevada_, we read you loud and clear. But we have a slight Yautja problem in orbit right now._"

The control room was dead silent as Kestrel walked over to the comm station and wired it for the _Nevada_'s command channel. What they would soon hear was probably the most terrifying minute of their lives to that point.

_U.S.S. Nevada, in orbit around Tau Ceti_

_May 15, 2181_

U.S. Navy Lieutenant Anthony Wilkes looked at the ship that was currently in front of his. From what little reports he had heard, Yautja ships were roughly of the same size as Gateway Station; this thing, well, this thing wasn't even a quarter of that size. It more along the same size as four aircraft carriers parked end to end. "Have they spotted us?" he asked.

Ensign Sarah Parker didn't look up from her station. "Negative sir, we have no confirmed weapons lock from them. We are still running black." 'Running black' was a term used by stealth ships these days to signify that for all intents and purposes, the ship had a signature that was the same as background cosmic radiation.

"Either way, we need to be prepared. Walls, I want all gun safeties off and the pods prepped. They start shooting, and we're going to give them a nice little hell-storm, understood?" Wilkes said as he tapped the link for the ship's Combat Information Center (CIC).

"_Yes sir! Already have the five's and AEGIS hot and ready to go! Missiles are getting ready to be punched in!_" came the response from the rather trigger happy Weapons System Officer, Ensign Alexander Walls.

"Sir, enemy ship has sensors on us! Shit they're firing!" Parker cried out. Wilkes looked up and saw a trio of plasma bolts head straight for his ship.

"All hands, brace for impact!" Wilkes yelled, punching the general PA system. Everyone on the bridge held their breath as the miniature suns rushed to strike them.

They were all surprised that the bolts missed. Apparently so were the Yautja, since there weren't any follow up shots. But that was all the opening the Wilkes needed. "Walls, open fire! Engage with all forward batteries and fire pods one through six! Helm, minimize our profile! They are not taking out my ship!" Wilkes ordered, remembering the reports on what happened to the _Marlow_. Seconds later, the ship shuddered as three of the _Nevada_'s eight railguns fired, sending five inch tungsten slugs toward the Yautja ship at twenty-five percent the speed of light. And after that, six of the twenty Washington class Medium Range Anti-Ship Missile pods streaked past the front of the _Nevada_.

The alien ship fired off several shots to intercept the missiles as the three railgun slugs slammed into the starboard side of the ship. The first round brought their shields down a bit, the second took it out completely, and the third ripped into the side like a ravenous beast. The plasma bolts were roughly fifteen thousand feet away from hitting the missile pods when they all split apart. Six pods soon turned into one hundred and twenty warheads, all of which did their best to avoid the plasma and hit the ship while the shields were down. The rounds took out about a dozen warheads, but the rest successfully dodged them and continued on towards the larger ship.

The plasma bolts however, went on and hit the _Nevada_. If the Yautja weren't surprised at the bite the humans had, then they sure as hell were when their plasma torpedoes failed to destroy the ship like they hoped. Instead, the shots dissipated on the _Nevada_'s newly acquired electrostatic shielding, courtesy of Driftech and the Vector's Folly Resolution.

The _Nevada _shook as the plasma bolts hit them. Without a seconds hesitation, Wilkes got a damage report. "Hull breach on levels five through eight, eleven and fourteen, sections D through F! We've lost the starboard dropship bay! Shields holding at forty-five percent!" Roberts, the engineering chief, yelled over the comm.

Wilkes looked up as the missiles hit the injured alien ship where the five inch shell made a fifty meter hole. With rather grim satisfaction, Wilkes watched as each 220mm shaped High Explosive, Armor Piercing warhead exploded in the ship, almost ripping it in half. The ship still held on, however, and prepped another salvo.

"Walls, finish it!" Wilkes ordered. His response back was the railguns firing again, and then five seconds later, again as Walls ordered his gun crew to blast the Yautja to oblivion. The slugs hit the ship in three places; the bow, one of the few sections of ship keeping it together, and then finally, the aft, where three of the six slugs tore into the engines and reactor. The Yautja ship shuddered, and then exploded, the forward section of ship not able to drift away in time to avoid the reactor blowing.

Parker looked at the alien wreakage in awe. "W-We took it out," she whispered. "We, we took it out!" she exclaimed in joy.

Wilkes started laughing in joy, just as he realized that the colony down planet-side had heard everything, and was now also cheering.

_May 15, 2181_

_Video Log: Cpl. van Hold, Nathan, Security Clearance: Grey_

_Mission Time: 00:37:21 Local Time: 07:59:30_

Dutch was cheering along with everyone else at the news. In one minute, the _Nevada_ not only fought a Yautja ship, but also destroyed it. As the messenger of the Vector's Folly Resolution, Dutch felt a sort of thrill at being part of a species that was able to even the odds with the Yautja. He still hadn't forgiven them for killing his last platoon on VF-132, and it was likely he never would.

"_Tau Ceti Control, we have a problem. Our starboard drop bay is gone, and from what my men tell, it'll take about an hour round trip for evac. Think you can hold out long enough to do that?"_

"Sir?" Kestrel asked, confused.

"_The debris from the alien ship is going to create a temporary night. This will bring in xenos like no tomorrow, so we'll need to be fast._"

"Understood," Kestrel said, terminating the link.

Tanner turned to look at Bron and Dutch. "Alright you two, I need you to help set up perimeter defenses. Grab a couple of UA-571's from the armory and put them in the tunnel. After that, you two will act as security for the Cherokee evacuating the civilians. Understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!" they both yelled.

"Good, now get going!" Tanner ordered. The two nodded and left.

"Wolf, you assist them," Kestrel ordered. Wolf nodded, hefting his shotgun as he left. "Now sir, what do you think is over at this off-site facility?"

:\_/:

Slash looked up at the debris coming from the sky. It knew without a doubt that the Hive would soon assault the colony, and as the human ship took off from the colony command center, it felt sorrow. It knew that soon, the humans inside would all die. Slash just hoped that she wouldn't be a casualty. It wasn't sure how it would live without her. It heard Mother scream at it, telling it that its place was with the Hive. It ignored her, and shut its mind from her.

Sighing, Slash got up from its perch on the abandoned sofa and went over to a small bag. Taking it and inspecting its contents, the xeno used its tail to hold it and left, hoping that **he** didn't get to the colony, for the human's sake.


	9. Arc 1: Tau Ceti: Reunion and Rebirth

_May 15, 2181_

_Video Log: Cpl. Wolf, Ryan Security Clearance: Blue_

_Mission Time: 03:41:12 Local Time: 10:02:23_

Wolf watched as the next batch of thirty survivors climbed onto the AV-88 Cherokee gunship behind him. Flanking him were Marine corporals van Hold and Bronson, the latter of whom was holding a freshly reloaded M56/C. Wolf himself had stocked up on 14x65mm rounds for his Vera, and was now looking at the M447 MAST on the side of his gun. Right now, despite the fact that it was about as well lit as a xenos ass, there weren't any xenos coming to kill them. And that worried the hell out of the non-com.

"Hey, Wolf, ya gettin' on?" Dutch asked, jerking his head to the dropship. Wolf looked back and saw that the colonists had gotten onboard, and were now waiting for him.

"Yeah, I'm, coming," Wolf said, getting onboard, the crew chief closing the ramp as he got on. Taking a seat, Wolf looked over to see a little girl, roughly about ten years old, just staring at the floor. "Hey, you okay?" he asked the girl softly. The girl shook her head. Wolf frowned in sympathy as he watched the girl start to cry. "What's your name? My name's Wolf."

"Ellie," came the soft reply from the girl, just before all hell broke loose.

_May 15, 2181_

_Video Log: AV-88/NV93_

_Mission Time: 03:44:10 Local Time: 10:05:12_

_The gunship is flying low over the complex, passing over a four story colony building. Just as it passes over, a massive xenomorph, a Ravager class, leaps from the side of the building and leaps onto the front of the aircraft. They immediately start to fall, and the pilot tries to literally shake off the aggressive alien. At this range, the pilot knows it is suicide to use the gunship's 30mm cannon. _

_The ravager tears into the ship, ripping open the hull, eager to devour the humans inside. Seconds later, the gunship crashes into the ground, plowing itself and the alien through several buildings before coming to a stop. _

_May 15, 2181_

_Video Log: Cpl. Van Hold, Nathan, Security Clearance: Grey_

_Mission Time: 03:45:01 Local Time: 10:06:03_

Dutch felt the aircraft stop, and quickly snapped his harness off. Popping open the emergency escape door, he yelled, "Everyone, get out now!" He watched as Bron tore off his harness and grabbed his M56/C, Wolf following with his M65/B. Within seconds, every colonist was out of their harness and trying to get away from the ravager now tunneling through the cockpit, the pilot and co-pilot guneer having been devoured or killed in the crash. Damn, these ravagers were tough fuckers.

"Major, the bird is down, I repeat, the bird is down!" Dutch yelled as he got out with the colonists, only to watch in horror as drones came pouring in, scattering the colonists. "Fuck!" he yelled, pulling up his pulse rifle and firing, trying to save the colonists.

"Ellie, NO!" Dutch turned his head to see Wolf run after a little girl who was rushing into an alley way. Dutch turned to Bron, who was doing his best to kill the drones before they harvested anymore of the colonists.

"Bron, get those colonists out of here!" he ordered, hearing only a grunt from the Smart-gunner. Rushing over to Wolf, Dutch yelled, "Wolf, grab her and go!" Dutch saw him nod and grab the girl, just as an ear-splitting roar filled the air. Bron's gun stopped firing, and the drones ran off as the ravager burst out of the gunship and pounced towards Wolf. With lightning speed, it speared Wolf's leg; Wolf dropped his gun in pain, and then cried in agony as the ravager lifted him off the ground and threw him into the air. Dutch, Bron, and Ellie were frozen in fear as the soldier fell back to the ground, only to be snatched out of the air by the xeno's jaws.

There was a sickening snap of bone and armor, and then Ellie screamed. The ravager turned to the girl, and was about to eat her as well when the most extraordinarily bizarre thing happened. Seconds before the massive xeno was about to reach her, the scarred xeno that Bron saw earlier _leapt_ from over Ellie and landed on the ravager's head. The smaller xeno then proceeded to bite, claw, and otherwise maul it's much larger comrade. The ravager could be single minded, but even it could not ignore a snarling ball of fury on its head.

Bron watched as the xeno he mentally named Slash assaulted its brethren. He was snapped out of his sense of bewilderment when Dutch tapped him on the shoulder. "Bron, we need that thing dead! I think that if we lure it back into the dropship, and detonate the missiles onboard, we can blow it to kingdom come!"

Bron nodded. "Go and wire the missiles, I'll get its attention," he said. When Dutch turned to run into the ship, Bron opened fire with his Smartgun. The shrill roar of the forty pound gun got the ravager's attention as it flung Slash off of it. Hissing, the ravager slowly walked over to Bron, who was circling over to the crashed dropship.

"I've got the warheads set, now get it in here!" Dutch yelled over the radio. Bron couldn't agree more as he stopped firing and ran towards the ship, Dutch giving him cover fire with his pulse rifle. Dutch saw the ravager roar and charge toward them. Bron passed him, and together, they both ran through the remains of the cockpit, clearing it in time for the ravager to get stuck. Dutch took out a detonator and hit the button.

The effect was instantaneous as the Cherokee simply exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere, and chunks of seared xeno hide into the sky.

:\_/:

Ellie walked over slowly to the scarred xeno, scared out of her mind. Her daddy had told her that the shiny black aliens were ruthless (whatever that meant) about killing humans, so the question in her mind was quite simply, _Why_?

The xeno jerked, startling the ten year old. Trembling, Ellie watched as the alien stood up slowly, towering over her four foot seven frame. Looking up at it, she started crawling away in fear. The alien then wrapped its tail around her and climbed up a wall, causing her to yelp in surprise. Shouts from out where the ship crashed let Ellie know that the soldiers were alive, but she was afraid that they would be too late to save her.

But then the alien started…purring. Ellie was shocked that the xeno hadn't killed her yet, and was even more surprised when it brought her closer and _hugged_ her. The large alien nuzzled the crook of her neck, stroking her on the back of her head. Pulling away, the alien did something unexpected; it bopped her on the nose.

Ellie flinched, and reflexively blurted out, "Allen! You know I ha-" Ellie stopped, stunned. This alien…maybe hadn't killed her because it was her brother? No way, that was silly! Ellie's mind was changed seconds later when the xeno reached the roof and opened up a backpack. A second or two of rummaging later, the alien took out a framed photograph and gave it to her.

Ellie took it and gasped. It was a photo of her and Allen, taken about three months ago in New York. She and Allen were on a ferry, and in the background was the Statue of Liberty. Allen was holding onto her, just like the alien was now. He had a trio of scars going down the right side of his face, a result of a quad-bike accident; there were three scars on the alien's face, going down its right side. And there was only one thing that Allen did that nobody else did…

Ellie felt the alien's body shift around her, forming a living cocoon around her, protecting her. The alien crossed its arms over her, finally releasing her from its tail. Curling up, the alien swept its tail around itself as it held Ellie close. Ellie didn't mind that she was next to a biological killing machine that had bony protrusions that looked like a skeleton, because she knew, just knew, that she had found her brother.

Slash, or Allen as Ellie knew him, sighed contentedly as he saw his sister's face break into one of realization and recognition. It was strange, how when he was about to die in the hive, he didn't truly "die." Yeah sure, an alien burst out of his chest, but as he felt his soul separate from his human body, he felt it being attached to the chestburster coming out of him. In effect, Allen was able to see, at the same time, his birth and death. When he thought about it, Allen supposed that the only reason he didn't pass on was because he was concerned about Ellie, and because he made a promise when she was born. And it was a promise he wasn't going to break.

It was then that the Marines burst onto the roof and aimed their guns at him and Ellie. And that woke up both the xeno inside of him, and the protective sibling with only one thing to lose.


	10. Arc 1: Tau Ceti: Crash and Reinforced

_May 15, 2181_

_Video Log: Cpl. Wolf, Ryan Security Clearance: Blue_

_Mission Time: 03:45:32 Local Time: 10:06:43_

Bron and Dutch watched in fear as Slash stood up, Ellie down on the ground. Bron looked over at Dutch and signaled for him to circle around the alien. Bron looked down at the little girl underneath the alien. "Ellie, I need you to crawl over to me slowly, okay?" Bron crouched down to her level. Dutch moved to behind her and the alien. Said alien was having a bit of trouble deciding who to kill first.

Ellie shook her head. "But, my brother-"

"Is gone sweetie," Bron said as he aimed at Slash. The alien looked at Bron and hissed angrily, almost as if it was insulted by Bron's statement. Then came even more hissing from behind him. Bron turned around and saw a fairly large alien staring at him. The tail swayed evilly from left to right as both Bron and the xeno looked at each other.

"Dutch, grab her and go. I've got this one," Bron said coldly, looking at the alien's left arm, seeing the pockmarked scars given to it by Bron's own Desert Eagle. The middle aged Marine flexed his right hand, or least, what was left of it, as the ring finger on his right hand had been bitten off by the alien in front of him. "Good to see you again Big Al."

The alien hissed as it crouched, ready to pounce. Dutch crawled forward towards Ellie. With reflexes born from fighting on VF-132, Dutch snatched up the little girl and sprinted towards the door. Slash looked behind it and saw that Ellie wasn't there; howling in anger, it turned to look at the retreating form of Dutch, and it was then that Bron and Big Al went at each other.

Big Al lunged at Bron, tackling him to the ground. Grunting as they hit the hard concrete of the building, Bron jerked his head to the side as the xeno tried to bite his head off. Reaching down, Bron grabbed his Desert Eagle from its holster and kicked Al hard enough to avoid being killed by the alien's tail; however, he was speared in the side.

Meanwhile, Slash pounced towards Dutch. The Marine expected to die, with Ellie in his arms; what he didn't expect was for the alien to grab both of them and fly through the door with them, just as Bron roared in defiance.

The three of them crashed on the bottom of the stairway, Slash taking most of the fall and tumble. In seconds, the three untangled themselves, and Slash found an M41A/2 Pulse Rifle muzzle in his face. Dutch was about to fire when Ellie put herself in front of the gun. "Ellie, what are doing?! Get away from it!" Dutch yelled as he aimed up at the alien's head.

"Don't kill my brother!" Ellie yelled out as she threw herself at the Marine. Gunshots went off, and an alien screeched in anger and pain.

:\_/:

May 15, 2181

Video Log: 2LT. Monnot, [Classified], Security Clearance: Red

Mission Time: 03:43:32 Local Time: 10:04:43

Kestrel looked over at Tanner, his face saying almost everything he needed to. "Shit!" he burst out, fists clenched. "No birds, and we have Ravagers on the planet! What else could possibly go wrong?"

Tanner should have reprimanded the soldier, but he understood what the lieutenant was going through. He did after all lose half his forces in one attack.

"Umm, sirs?" Both the Major and the Lieutenant looked over at the comm tech. "The uhh, _Nevada_ says that they can spare another trooper for support."

The Major looked at the civilian, dumbfounded. "Only _one_ trooper?" he asked.

"Yessir, a SEAL."

Tanner looked over at Kestrel. If there was anybody even crazier than the U.S. Army Airborne, then it sure as hell was the Navy SEALs. Granted, the Airborne were fairly crazy to routinely do High Altitude, Low Opening jumps, but the SEALs put them to shame. What with their Drop Pods, advanced weaponry and gear, and near impossible to pass training.

Kestrel shrugged. "Alright, well, we need everyone we can get down here," he said, looking over at the control screen where his team's killcams were displayed. Much to his dismay, Vera's killcam showed Wolf's mutilated body, the burning wreckage of the Cherokee in the background.

Tanner nodded in agreement and told the tech that yes, they would like the SEAL, and that the SEAL should have gone done with them three frakkin' hours ago!

:\_/:

May 15, 2181

Video Log: CPL. Bronson, Samuel, Security Clearance: Blue

Mission Time: 03:46:47 Local Time: 10:07:10

Bron was pissed as Big Al tossed him across the roof. The Marine had pulled out his pistol and fired three shots, none of which hit, and Al freaked. The alien had flung him off his tail, and now, Bron was able to aim properly. He aimed, fired, and nailed the bastard that took his finger dead in the head, the .5 Action Express rounds taking off fist sized chucks of flesh with them. Bron kept on firing until he heard his gun click dry. Bron grimaced as Big Al looked at him, the alien almost smiling in triumph when they both heard a low howling, growing in intensity. They both looked up at the same time and saw a grey blur rush down at them. Bron and Big Al looked at each other one last time before the drop pod slammed on top of Big Al with pinpoint accuracy. The alien didn't have time to scream as the pod went through the roof and landed with a thud on the ground.

Dutch, Ellie, and Slash had heard the pod come down and went over to the hole on the third floor where the pod had cleared a path. Looking down, they all saw what seemed to be a giant metal egg, still smoking from the re-entry. Looking over at the alien next to him, Dutch raised his pulse rifle, making Ellie go nuts.

"Don't!" she cried out, just as the pod opened. Out walked a single soldier, armed with a suppressed pulse rifle, a SPAS-12 twelve gauge shotgun, and what seemed like a revolver. The soldier looked up and saw the three oddball individuals. Reacting quickly, the soldier drew out their pulse rifle and aimed at the xeno.

"Hold fire!"

The four of them looked up to see Bron looking over the edge of the hole in the roof. "The xeno's friendly," he said, clutching his side in pain.

"How the hell can you tell?" Dutch asked as he took Ellie as far away from the xeno as possible, the young girl struggling against him. Slash looked at him angrily.

"Because if he wasn't my brother I'd be dead!" Ellie cried out. Dutch looked at the alien and saw it nod in confirmation. Slash then decided to walk closer to Dutch and beckoned Ellie over. The girl wrenched herself away from Dutch's grasp and ran into Slash's arms. "Allen!" she said, hugging the alien. Dutch watched in surprise as the alien hugged Ellie back, not making a single move to harm her. There a loud _ch-chack!_ of a shotgun coming from behind him. Dutch turned to see the soldier, or rather, SEAL judging by the shoulder patch, aim at the xeno, shotgun barrel next to Dutch's head.

"Identify yourself," came the emotionless voice from the SEAL. Dutch looked to where Bron was.

"Corporal Nathan van Hold, USCMC," he told the SEAL. "I have an injured Marine upstairs, think you can help me get him back to the colony command center?"

"I'll get him. I don't trust the xeno."

Dutch shrugged, exasperated. "I don't either, but the bug hasn't given me a reason to kill it yet."

"Allen's not an it!" Ellie yelled out to the two adults; this prompted a light smack, almost a tap, on the side of the girl's head from the xenomorph, the alien seemingly ticked at Ellie's lack of respect.

Dutch and the SEAL looked at the xeno oddly. Glancing at the SEAL, Dutch hefted his pulse rifle and flipped down the motion tracker in his helmet. Seeing that there wasn't anything sneaking up on them, Dutch gave the go ahead for the SEAL to grab Bron.

The SEAL rushed up the stairs, bursting out onto the roof. Looking down at Bron, and the hole in his side, the SEAL slide over to him and kneeled on the ground, whipping out a Med-pack. "Geez, you can't help but be a stubborn old coot, huh Dad?"

Bron looked up at the SEAL. "Wait, Charlotte?" he asked, wincing as his daughter injected several sticks of adrenaline into him.

"Yeah, that's me last time I checked," Charlotte said, hauling her father up onto her shoulders. Going down the stairs, the two got to where Dutch, Ellie, and the xeno were standing when the xeno hissed. Dutch tensed.

"What's wrong?" Bron asked.

"Contacts. A lot of them," Dutch answered.

"So…?" Charlotte asked, looking at the Corporal.

"SUSFU."

"Ah," Bron replied. "Reminds me of that mission I had on New Arcadia. That was when my finger got chewed off." Looking to Ellie and …Allen, Bron asked, "What about the alien?"

Dutch shrugged. "We call in and say we have a priority package in the shape of a bug. Tell them not to kill him, I guess."

Ellie looked up at the alien in worry. Allen purred softly and stroked her hair. Bron grimaced in pain.

"Fine, let's just get the hell out of here!" Bron shouted.

That was when they all heard the hoard of coming in.


	11. Tac Files 3

**Tactical Files, Compiled and Abridged, Data-stream #3**

**U.S. Navy SEAL**- Founded in 1960, the U.S. Navy SEALS are among the most highly skilled Special Operations troops in the U.S. arsenal. Responsible for the success of hundreds of publicized campaigns (and who knows how many more black ops), a SEAL is a game changer in the most extreme. Dropping onto the field in Orbital Drop Pods, SEALS are typically used for recon, assassination missions, and torch and burn ops behind enemy lines.

On a side note, the U.S. Army Airborne and the SEALS have a friendly rivalry on how they drop into combat, and on how short they can complete a mission successfully.

**Electrostatic Shielding**- Commonly known to the general public as a 'Force Field,' the Mk.I Electrostatic Shield Generator is a newly created device from Driftech Industries in preparation for the Human-Yaut-ja War. By passing a massive electric current through a series of capacitors, the generator creates a relatively weak shielding system that can deflect most of the damage from the infamous plasma cannons of the Yaut-ja. The shields have little to no effect on ballistic and explosive weaponry, such as the kind Humanity uses.

**Xenomorph, Ravager**- The Ravager strain of the Archeron Xenomorph is more deadly than a Queen, of that survivors can attest to. Standing at nearly thirty feet high, what makes the Ravager truly daunting is that near its hands are a series of semi-retractable 'claws' that are capable of slicing through a meter of Titanium-A hull plating. Ravagers are also one of, if not the only strain, that doesn't seek to incapacitate potential hosts. Instead, it either decapitates them, or in the case of the late Corporal Ryan Wolf and an AV-88/S pilot, eaten.

**Xenomorph, Drone, "Big Al"**- Previously encountered by Corporal Samuel Bronson on the colony world of New Arcadia. Slightly larger than most other drones, Big Al is unique in several respects. First is that B.A. was a former experiment of Weyland-Yutani, Subject Bravo Echo Seven (BE7). Distinguished by a slight mutation on its tail, giving it the appearance of a juvenile Warrior, and several gunshot scars given by Corporal Bronson.

Killed when a U.S. Navy SEAL Drop Pod crashed on top of it.

**M56/C Smartgun**- Weyland-Yutani's other hope for the upcoming war, the M56/C Smartgun is little changed compared to both its predecessors and the M57 series. While it shares the same ammunition as all other WY Corp. Smartguns, the M56/C has a decreased ammunition capacity, with only 450 rounds per drum; Company spokesman Donald Romney cited that in a war, one shouldn't waste ammo, especially against a technologically superior alien foe.

However, what the M56/C lacks in ammunition capacity it more than makes for in terms of stopping power. The weapon was designed to use the new M343 10x28mm **H**igh **E**xplosive, **M**edium **A**rmor **P**iercing rounds, specifically designed to penetrate Yautja armor; the fact that is one of the few rounds capable of shredding advanced strains of xenomorphs in seconds is an added bonus.

There are currently rumors in the United States Colonial Marine Corp. that the cornbread issued to riflemen is poisonous to xenomorphs. After eating the stuff, our researchers at Driftech Tau Ceti are looking into that possibility. Currently unconfirmed.


	12. Arc 1: Tau Ceti: Planning

_May 15, 2181_

_Video Log: Cpl. van Hold, Nathan Security Clearance: Blue_

_Mission Time: 03:53:51 Local Time: 10:14:14_

Dutch was holding Ellie, Bron was tied to the back of Allen, and the SEAL was right behind them, covering their escape to the command center. Bron's smartgun roared in fury as the alien horde advanced upon them, and the SEAL was doing her best as well to add to the hailstorm of gunfire. Dutch activated his radio and started talking.

"Eagle Actual, this is Dutch! We are heading back to base, and we have mission sensitive cargo in tow, and a shit-ton of hostiles following us!" he yelled into his headset.

Tanner responded quickly. "_Define mission sensitive Corporal!"_

Dutch groaned as he fired his pulse rifle at a lone runner in front of the group. "We have a friendly xeno with Bron on its back with us! We're asking for a temporary sentry override!"

"_Friendly?! That's impossible!_"

"You're preaching to the choir sir!" Bang, another bug dead. Dutch could see the building in front of him right now. "Sir, now would be a good time for some fire support!" Dutch could not have been happier with the sounds of pulse rifles and energy weapons going off to save him and his little rag tag band of mismatched personalities.

"_Get your ass inside Marine! We see your package, and while I don't believe it, I ain't complaining. NOW GET IN HERE!_" Tanner yelled. Dutch sprinted to the door, stopping to hand Ellie off to the guard there before turning around to fire. Seconds later, Allen and Bron made it to the door, and Allen almost found himself blown to bits before they all noticed Bron lashed to the alien's backside.

"Charlie!" Bron yelled, and Dutch turned to see that the SEAL was getting close to being overrun. Rushing out, Dutch fired his rifle into the horde, bringing down several bugs; unfortunately, one of them was a bit too close when he killed it, sending some of its acidic blood onto Charlie's chest armor. The SEAL panicked as she struggled to rip her armor off before the acid reached her. Luckliy, the base's auto-sentries kicked back online and started grinding the horde down to mulch as Dutch helped the trooper take the armor off. As the smoldering chest plate hit the ground, the Marine and SEAL high tailed it to the inside of the command center.

The moment that Charlie got in, the peacekeeper next to it slammed the door shut, and a technician soon started to weld it shut. Panting, Dutch looked and saw that there were at _least_ fifteen guns trained on Allen, and Ellie was not happy, as her pout attested. Dutch walked up to the nearest NCO, a Staff Sergeant Sanchez. "Sir, he's friendly enough," he said, watching the sergeant's look of surprise.

"Bullshit," the Latino NCO said, and Allen growled, covering Ellie's ears as he did so. Dutch almost chuckled.

"Hey sarge, language, we got kids here," Dutch commented, pointing to Ellie. Sanchez was about to argue with the corporal when Tanner, Kestrel, and Dr. Freeman (whose first name was not Gordon) came down from the stairs and saw Allen.

"That the package?" Freeman asked, pointing at Allen. Dutch nodded, and the scientist edged closer to Allen to get a better look at him. Dutch nodded as both Tanner and Kestrel looked the alien over. Allen gently tried to pry his sister off of his bony leg, but to no avail; that girl hugged harder than a facehugger, that was for certain.

"Amazing," Freeman breathed. "No outward hostile behaviors, and it-"

"Allen's a he!" Ellie blurted out angrily. Allen, for his part, huffed and lightly tapped her on the head. Ellie looked back at her brother and felt his tail coil around her midsection. She let out a small squeak of indignation as Allen lifted her off his leg and dropped her to the ground several feet away.

"And no sign of aggression to little girls," Kestrel said as he looked at the SEAL. "Hey trooper, name and rank if you don't mind."

Charlie snapped to attention. "Seaman Charlotte Bronson, SEAL Team 4 sir!" she said, saluting the two officers in front of her. Tanner nodded.

"At ease. Now, on the way down, did you see anything that looked like it wasn't supposed to be there?" he said. Charlie looked up, trying to recall.

"I think I saw a small outpost about…I'd say thirty klicks south by southwest sir," she said. "I'm not sure." They all flinched when Allen snapped his head to the words Charlie had said. Looking around, the xeno spotted a terminal nearby and walked towards it. Freeman was about to freak out when Kestrel stopped him.

The guards, Marines, Soldiers, scientist and SEAL watched as Allen booted up the terminal and brought up a document program. In seconds, he began typing at a rapid pace. "Holy shit," Freeman whispered. "I didn't know xenos could type!" Kestrel shook his head.

"They don't."

Seconds later, Allen stepped away from the terminal and beckoned for the soldiers to come closer. Hesitantly, Freeman, Kestrel, Tanner, and Dutch walked over to the terminal and looked at it in shock.

_It's a Weyland-Yutani outpost. They ran a few bioweapon experiments, which kinda explains the outbreak. And me._

Dutch looked at Allen. "What do you mean?" he asked. Allen edged back over to the terminal and typed.

_They found some sort of alien artifact buried on site. They got a few 'volunteers' and activated the relic. It…changed them. I don't know, I can't explain it all that well. But the Mother doesn't like them._

Tanner spoke up this time. "The Queen?" Allen nodded. "How come you're not like the others?" the Major asked.

Allen smiled…well, the closest a xeno could smile anyway. _I made a promise to protect my little sister. And I don't break my promises sir._

Dutch chuckled. "Yeah, I know that feeling," he said as he spotted Larissa standing by the stairs, looking at Allen in shock. The Marine Corporal walked over to his sister and put an arm around her. "You okay?" he asked quietly.

Larissa shook her head. "No Nathan, I'm not," she said. "We have no way off this hellhole, and we're outnumbered. Not exactly something to be in a good mood for."

Nathan hugged her. "Hey, we'll get off world, I promise." Larissa snorted and looked up at her brother.

"Trying to use that famous van Hold optimism Nate?" she asked gently. Nathan shrugged.

"I'm just stating the obvious here," he said as Tanner waved him over. Dutch disentangled himself from his sister and went over to his CO. "Yes sir?" he asked, looking at the xeno that was now letting a certain little climb onto its back.

Tanner looked at Kestrel. "Dutch, Kestrel and…Allen say that we need to get off world ASAP. Allen says that there's a Navaho dropship at the Whisky Yankee Outpost. Kestrel and Dr. Freeman are going to gather the survivors, while we make sure that the little fuckers have something to chew here. Dutch, I'm going to need you and the SEAL to head to their armory and grab anything and everything that isn't bolted down. Some of the hardware here _is_ meant for the shit storm coming up," Tanner said.

"Understood sir," Dutch answered as he shouldered his pulse rifle. "When and where do you want them stocked sir?"

Tanner pointed to the east. "Garage son. Now get going."

Dutch snapped to attention. "Yes sir!" he exclaimed, and then proceeded to the armory, Navy SEAL in tow. Tanner turned to Larissa.

"Doctor van Hold?"

Larissa looked up at the Marine commander. "Yes?" she answered.

Tanner pointed at Allen. "Can you take Allen to medbay? I'd like to know what makes him so different from the rest of the Hive."

Larissa looked over Allen professionally. "Will do sir." Walking over to the rather mismatched pair, Larissa looked at Ellie. "Ellie, do you know who I am?" she asked the little girl. Ellie nodded. "Ok," Larissa continued. "Ellie, I need to take your brother to my lab here. I need to find out what makes him so special."

Ellie nodded. "Okay," she said. "Is Allen going to be okay?"

Larissa nodded. "Don't worry honey, I'll try not to hurt him. Though I doubt I could," she admitted with a small smile. "Ellie, listen, I think we're going on a trip soon. Do you want to take a nap in my lab while I look at your brother?" Ellie nodded her head furiously before yawning. Allen rolled his head, seemingly exasperated with his sibling's antics.

Larissa turned and beckoned from Allen to follow her. The alien did so, careful not to let his sibling fall off his back.

Meanwhile, Dutch and Charlie managed to get into the armory. One look, and Dutch let out a wolf-whistle. He was expecting pulse rifles and smartguns. What he didn't expect were the new Series Six UAG-290 Sentry Turrets, several racks of M7 Urban Plasma Rifles, two M23 rocket launchers, and off in the corner, a really big Fucking GUN. Charlie turned to Dutch. "Dibs on the big fucking gun," she said. Dutch shrugged and picked up a new rifle he hadn't seen before. Looking at the side, he saw that it was a Driftech M30A Designated Marksman Rifle, 9.5x112mm. Slipping the clip out, Dutch counted out a ten round magazine, and he then slipped the clip back in. Looking at the barrel, Dutch smiled as he saw the hint of a pair of electromagnetic rails.

Yeah, the Hive was about to get hammered.


	13. Arc 1: Tau Ceti: Examination and Hope

_May 15, 2181_

_Video Log: Dr. van Hold, Larissa, Security Clearance: Green_

_Mission Time: 04:01:51 Local Time: 10:22:14_

Larissa gently put Ellie down onto her chair. Putting one of her old lab coats over the girl as a blanket, Larissa whispered, "You sleep here, okay? We have a lot of good people looking out for you, and the monsters won't get you, okay?" Ellie nodded slowly as her eyes closed, the events and stress of the past few weeks catching up to her and putting her to sleep. Once the scientist was sure that Ellie was asleep, she turned to the xeno that stood a ways off from her.

Larissa sighed. "Alright," she said to Allen. "Normally, I just dissect bugs like you, but considering all that's happened since you came into the picture, I'll stick with as much noninvasive as I can. That alright with you?" Allen nodded. Larissa waved over to her 'operating' table. "Well, in that case, please take a seat on the table so we can get started."

Allen went over to the table and climbed onto it, waiting for the scientist. He wasn't sure what to think of her. She seemed nice, but then again, she had all but blatantly admitted to butchering the corpses of his fellow xenos. Not that Allen really cared, but still. Larissa walked up to Allen holding a small recording device.

"You mind?" she asked him. Allen shook his head no. Nodding, Larissa set the recorder down and activated it. "This is Doctor Larissa van Hold, of Driftech Research and Development on Tau Ceti. I am currently awaiting confirmation from my boss and the surviving Marine and Army contingent of our continued evacuation. In the meantime, I have the opportunity to examine a healthy, and surprisingly nonhostile Internecivus raptus, known more commonly as the Archeron Xenomorph. I will now start with a physical examination of the subject in question," Larissa said, her voice cold, dispassionate, and professional. She picked up a small flashlight as she continued talking. "Subject is of the subspecies Warrior, coloration dark cobalt blue. Has three scars running down the right hand side of its head. Height is estimated to be about six feet and seven inches; length is roughly twelve. Weight, if past subjects are a good guide, should be about two hundred pounds." Larissa looked at Allen and sighed.

"Now, would you please open your mouth?" Allen did so. Damn, it was like being back in the dentist's office again. Larissa continued. "Subject has standard dentation, and the secondary mouth is…oh my God, it's _gone_," she whispered. Shining the light in, Larissa's face exploded in shock. "This is unbelievable! Subject has no secondary jaw to speak of, and instead has a tongue. Helps explain why the area near the back of the jawline is sealed off, as opposed to exposed as seen in previous specimens."

Larissa stepped back, and looked at Allen. "My God," she said. "What in the hell are you?"

[][][]

_May 15, 2181_

_Video Log: Cpl. van Hold, Nathan Security Clearance: Blue_

_Mission Time: 04:08:46 Local Time: 10:28:09_

Dutch had managed, with Charlie's help, to place a grand total of ten plasma rifles, each having nearly ten batteries with full charge, five M38/A Pulse Rifles with about ten clips to share, a single M56/C with five drums, a pair of M65/Bs with ten drums of ammo, and four XPP-2/A Plasma Cannons, with four cells each. Oh, and then there was Charlie's new Big Fucking Gun. Dutch had no fucking clue as to what in the hell it did, and he prayed that he wouldn't have to find out.

One of the soldiers, Frost, came into the garage and saw all the hardware. "Damn," he said. "This is some pretty damn advanced shit here."

Dutch nodded. "Yeah, I know. The Corps only has the PIG, and we don't even have those most of the time," he said. "So, what's your story?"

Frost shrugged. "Inner city kid from Detroit. Wanted out I suppose." Dutch looked at Frost with interest. He was lean, young, and had more than a few scars exposed from his now rolled up sleeves.

"So how long have you been in?" Dutch asked.

Frost sighed. "About three months. This is my third drop. Almost splattered myself on the way here." Frost looked back at the door. "El-tee managed to catch before I hit the ground. Hell, if he can, he'd save everyone the trouble of dying and go in alone. Just who he is, you know?"

Dutch nodded. "A real leader huh?" he asked. Frost nodded.

"Yeah. Hey, uh, Dutch, what did happen on VF-132? I heard that your squad bought it, and that you turned into a messenger, but other than that, nothing in the rumor mill. So, way I figure it, I can get the info from the horse's mouth," Frost said, leaning back on the door frame.

Dutch sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "Well," he started. "We were called in to investigate a colony gone dark. We come in, prepped for a bug hunt. Only, we get ambushed by Yautja shortly after we hit the ground. They took out the _Austrailialus_, and between them and the bugs, killed everyone but me, a female Yautja, and an android. About three weeks later, Major Tanner and his group come by and save me and Standard before we got overrun. After that well, you know the rest."

Frost was about to comment when the P.A. come on.

"_All units, please report to Triple See on the double. We have a plan,_" Kestrel said over the comm. Frost looked over at Dutch.

"Okay, well, let's go see what the big guys have to say." Dutch nodded and the two troopers left the garage.

/\/\/\

_May 15, 2181_

_Video Log: Dr. van Hold, Larissa Security Clearance: Green_

_Mission Time: 04:17:34 Local Time: 10:39:32_

Larissa stood off to the side, giddy with barely contained excitement as the soldiers and Marines shuffled into the Central Command Center. Noticing her brother, Larissa edged over to Nathan. "Nate, you would not believe what I have just seen," she said quietly, leaning over to him. Nathan looked at her oddly as Tanner waved to get their attention.

"Alright, listen up!" he said loudly. "We have a plan on how to get everyone off this rock in one piece. Kestrel, your plan, you tell 'em." Said Army commander stood up next to the 3-D mapping system in the middle of the room.

Kestrel looked at each of them as he began talking. "Okay, I'll tell you what I can. As far as we know, there is an illegal Weyland-Yutani facility thirty klicks south of us. We received orbital imagery from the _Nevada_, and we have confirmed that there is a single UD-22 Navaho Heavy Dropship on site. Now, to get there, we'll be loading up several of the transport mules stowed in the garage, pile as much hardware and survivors as we can, and make a run for the outpost. We get there, we make a brief stop and get some incriminating evidence on our favorite assholes, and get off this rock. From there, we nuke the whole site from orbit, and nuke the ashes again for good measure." Kestrel looked around. "Any questions?"

Frost raised his hand. Kestrel nodded. "Sir, what can we expect getting there? I mean, are we going to pass by the nest, or what?" Frost asked, several remaining Marines and a few of the soldiers nodding and agreeing as well.

Kestrel gestured to the map. "So long as we avoid this area like the plague," he said, the indicated area lighting up as red, "We can expect light to minor resistance." Noticing the rather excited Larissa, Kestrel asked, "Is there something you'd like to share Doctor…?"

"van Hold," Larissa said. "It's not so much the evacuation as it is about our new arrival."

Tanner waved her up. "Go ahead miss," he said. Larissa nodded as she made her way to the front. Getting to the table, she hooked up her datapad and began talking.

"So, I was examining Allen, the xeno, just getting a physical when I made a hell of a find," she said rapidly. The map dissolved and turned into a wireframe image of Allen. "The first thing that I noticed was that Allen had no secondary inner jaw," Larissa said. "He has a tongue. A very long one, but a tongue none the less. That's why this area here," she pointed to the jawline. "Is sealed off. After seeing that, well, I had to continue testing. I gave him a cursory eye exam, you all know, the part where we flash the light in your eye to measure the dilation. And, well, he flinched. Not in that it was just light, but almost like he was blinded by it." At this point, Larissa was on a roll. "As it turns out, our friend here does indeed have eyes. I'm not sure where, or even how they work, but I know that they're there."

She turned around and smiled. "But the crazy parts are these." Without warning, another wireframe popped up, this time, detailing the skeletal structure of Allen. The soldiers all noticed the oddity that Larissa now started explaining. "He has two skeletons. We have your standard exoskeleton made out of basically Teflon, and then the inner skeleton I'm guessing is some sort of acid resistant calcium compound that we've never encountered before. And to top it all off, his blood isn't nearly as acidic as any other xeno. I personally think that his blood is about…a quarter of the strength of that of a normal bug. Shows amazing intelligence, and he has repeatedly told me, through a terminal, that he hates needles."

Kestrel and Tanner looked at each other, and then back at the doctor. "Ma'am, normally, I'd say you were nuts," Tanner said.

"However, at this point in time, well, we'll just accept what you just said," Kestrel finished. "Now, I need every survivor in the garage, and I want all of our gear on those vehicles ASAP! We leave at 1100 local! Dismissed!" Kestrel shouted.

"You heard the man, spread the word!" yelled a Latino sergeant. "Assholes and elbows, let's get a move on people!" Soon, the troops were out of the room. Except for Nathan. Larissa walked over to her brother and simply fell onto him.

"Umm, sis, you tired?" Nathan asked. Larissa nodded.

"Nate, I haven't slept for more than four hours for ten days straight," she murmured. "I could use a nap right about now. And an apology from you."

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Larissa, can we _not_ go into this argument again? Every time we meet, we get into the same old argument."

Larissa looked at her brother evilly. "Hey, it does not make you look weak to send your older sister a Christmas card!"

Nathan snorted. "Larissa, you're Jewish! And Mom couldn't exactly heave us both out at the same time, so don't expect that being born a minute before me makes you the better sibling!"

"Yeah, well, I don't go around screwing my equipment!" Larissa said hotly. Her exhaustion soon fled as she saw the pained look on her brother's face. "Nate, I'm-"

"Larissa, look at me."

Larissa looked up into her brother's eyes. "Larissa," Nathan said calmly. "Standard, despite being an android, is one of the sweetest people I know. And no amount of bullshit paperwork saying that she's an artificial person is going to change that. Whether you accept the fact that we're happy together or not, I will always be happy to be your brother. Might make me angry and annoyed as hell, but I'll still love you."

Larissa almost broke down and cried. "N-Nate, I'm sorry, it's just that, so many of my friends are gone, and I don't even know if we're going to make it off this rock, and-"

Nathan hugged his sister, his hard metal chest plate calming the sobbing scientist. "Laris, I know. I lost my entire squad in one day on VF," he said. "But we will survive, I promise.

"I promise."

\/\/\/

_Elsewhere_

It lay there, underground, waiting for prey. The small things in white, they were the first live prey it had ever had, and despite the multitude of bones, it found their taste quite exquisite. Then came the black shelled things, whose blood made it go into a rage. Yes, their blood, blood that could kill most things on contact, whirled it into a frenzy! But now, it lay in wait. Now, it waited for the hunt to begin.

It was the king of the darkness, and the shadows of death were his domain.


	14. Arc 1: Tau Ceti: BFGs and BFAs

_May 15, 2181_

_Video Log: PFC. Frost, Dean Security Clearance: Grey_

_Mission Time: 04:30:43 Local Time: 10:58:12_

Frost watched in apprehension as the surviving colonists and peacekeepers armed with the remaining pulse rifles piled into a pair of converted buses. There were quite a few slots to allow the occupants to fire at targets outside, and on the roof they had managed to bolt down a UAG-290 Sentry Turret. Pretty damned good for an improvised APC. Bandito's fireteam piled into the rear APC, while he, Thor, Rushmore and the El-tee got into the one in front with the Marines.

Frost, for his role in the car, was the guy who made sure that the sentry gun on the roof didn't overheat, and was full of ammo at all times. So when the door opened, the young soldier immediately turned on the sentry, and prayed that this trip went well. No sooner had the first car gone fifty meters that the first wave of runners came in. As they appeared, the sentries atop the buses roared, sending high explosive ammo downrange to wipe out the infestation. Frost barely listened to the chatter as he watched the screen for his turret, keeping an eye on the heat and ammo counters.

_Ratototototototototoom._

Barrel temperature up five degrees, ammo down by forty rounds. Another long burst. Barrel at 276 degrees, ammo at 560. Frost watched as the runners started falling back, paving the way for the warriors. Several long bursts later, and the barrel was borderline overheating. "Overheat!" Frost shouted, engaging the manual coolant flush for the barrel. As soon as he said that, Dutch, Charlie, the El-tee, and Eagle were firing with everything they had to provide Frost with time for the barrel to cool down. Ten seconds later, the barrel had cooled enough to resume its bug killing duty.

"Shit, crusher!" Dutch yelled. Frost looked out and saw the distinctive crest of that particular xeno, and brought the crosshairs of the turret to bear on it.

On VF-132, it took one UAG-280 series of turret nine rounds of armor piercing, medium explosive ammo to puncture its skull. It would take a single 290 about eight to do the same job. With four trained on it, the bastard was dead before it could even get close. As they drove off, Frost wasn't even sure that there was anything left of the crusher when it hit the ground.

They soon cleared the boundaries of the colony and were now in the open plains that stretched for about twenty klicks to where they were heading. For about ten minutes, nothing came out to attack them. No runners, no warriors, and thank God that they hadn't seen another Ravager. Suddenly, as a young girl was about to drop a chunk of what was supposedly standard issue Marine cornbread, a runner jumped out of the ground and snatched it out of her hand. The APC stopped as they all watched the alien convulse and gag at what was in its mouth. Everyone looked at each other, Allen included, with a _what-the-fuck?_ face as the runner slowly foamed at the mouth and stopped moving, its leg twitching twice before going still.

"So that's what cornbread does," Dr. Freeman said softly, shattering the stupefied silence. Up near the front, Eagle handed Kestrel a twenty. The convoy soon started moving again.

[][][]

They were now in a somewhat forested area, and now, everyone was peering out of the firing slots. Frost had checked the ammo, and saw that the double drum magazine was about half full. He looked back into the screen, waiting for the little fuckers to show themselves. Suddenly, the rear APC exploded into action.

"_Contact contact, we have boilers! Shit, keep em off our asses!_" Bandito yelled over the radio as their roof-mounted gun went off with a vengeance. Frost paled. He had only heard of boilers, but supposedly, they were suicide bombers. One up close and personal and you were gone, simple as that. Frost watched as his gun went off, nailing boilers before they could get too close.

APC Three was firing away full blast when something hit the sentry gun. In seconds, the gun started dissolving, leading to the panicked reports of spitters in the area. Runners were known for their ability to spit acid, but they did it at close range. A spitter, on the other hand, was essentially a xeno sniper, and the sentry on APC Two was soon the next target. Frost manually overrode his turret and searched for the offending bastard creatures. There, in the treetops! Frost hit the trigger, and rounds eight point six five millimeters in diameter tore the spitters to shreds. But the damage was already done.

A boiler managed to get in front of APC Three, and detonated, for lack of a better term. The caustic fluids and accompanying innards liberally covered the front of the bus, and the vehicle rapidly lost speed. Not to mention the entire front end, plus terrified driver, melted away. APC Four, with Bandito, pulled up next to Three and opened the door so that survivors could quickly get on. About ten managed to get on before the bugs started swarming into the ruined APC. One of the ruined survivors shut the door to APC Four from the outside and shouted for them to go. As soon as Four pulled away, shaking off a few stray bugs, the lost APC exploded in a small nuclear inferno, wiping out everything within a twenty meter radius.

The convoy had no choice but to keep on moving, no time to mourn the fallen. Wave after wave of spitters, boilers, and warriors came to challenge the survivors, and it was mostly due to the efforts of the sentry guns and Dutch's newfound DMR that they even got close to the outpost.

[][][]

_It could smell the prey coming. Closer and closer to its den, the beast stirred. If it had lips, or a tongue for that matter, it would have licked its chops in anticipation. It could smell the fear, the blood, and the taint of the hard-prey. _

_Perhaps now, it would receive a more fitting meal._

[][][]

_May 15, 2181_

_Video Log: Cpl. van Hold, Nathan Security Clearance: Blue_

_Mission Time: 05:08:12 Local Time: 11:31:02_

Dutch looked outside of the APC as they rolled up to the outpost. It was abandoned, and oddly enough, despite what he had heard from Allen about this being the start of the outbreak, didn't see any damage that matched with a xeno, not even a Ravager. The APCs drove around to the back of the building where the airpad was, and Dutch saw a door open near the side. Turning to Tanner, Dutch asked, "Sir, permission to take Frost in and get our intel?"

Tanner nodded. "Granted. Be quick though; don't know how much this place crawls."

Dutch nodded and tapped the soldier on the shoulder and jerked a thumb to the building. Frost nodded, and when the APC stopped, the two of them hopped off and sprinted inside. The two soldiers quickly made their way to the admin area, where the info had to be, and quickly got into the main memory core. Taking out a datapad, Frost plugged it in and started the download.

"How long?" Dutch asked as he eyed his motion tracker.

"Five minutes at least," Frost said. "No more than ten, I can assure you. Why?"

"Cause we have contacts, and they ain't us!" Dutch cried out as a long, drawn out howl echoed through the halls. Dutch armed his pulse rifle and aimed at the ceiling as Frost set his pad down and drew his own rifle. Seconds later, their enemies appeared. Only, they weren't exactly xenos. It was almost like someone had taken a xeno and human, and tried melting them together. It was horrifying, yet both Frost and Dutch fired into them, ending their lives with as much as they now needed.

And, judging by the radio chatter, the aberrations were attacking what was left of the convoy too. A few peacekeepers were lost, a civilian or two, and one soldier, Bandito, was simply swarmed over as the monsters advanced, but the survivors were slowly making their way to the dropship. Dutch and Frost must have lost track of time, because Frost turned around and saw that the data download was complete. "Sir," he cried out. "We are leaving!" Dutch couldn't agree more. The two of them rushed out to the courtyard where the Marines and soldiers were holding off the horde, the civilians climbing into the Navaho.

Dutch and Frost added their full metal jacketed wrath into the hailstorm of fire, and thirty seconds later, the horde retreated. They all looked at each in surprise before the ground in front of them exploded, a giant…_thing_, coming out of the ground. Dutch knew that whatever the hell it was, it wasn't natural. Ravagers weren't that big, and he knew that for a fact. This thing, this thing had to have engineered. And quicker than his eyes could register, it had already killed several Marines. The hailstorm of fire resumed, this time concentrated on its limbs.

It shrugged off the pain, and kept on fighting, bringing the total soldier count down to five: Kestrel, Frost, Thor, Malloy, and Rushmore. The rogue slammed its fist into the ground, and sent Charlie flying. She landed in a heap, and Kestrel rushed to her side. He picked her up, and proceeded to push her away when the monster's tail went through his chest.

For years afterward, Dutch would recount with awe and terror as the beast lifted Kestrel to eye view. Dutch had no idea how Kestrel managed to grab Charlie's Big Fucking Gun, much less hang onto it, but as the monster stared at him, the Marine Corporal would always remember what happened next.

Kestrel's look of raw defiance as yelled out, "_**Say blarg, you cockbiting fucktard!**_"

The monster's roar of challenge.

And then the giant ass snot colored energy ball of epic badassness plowing through its head, neck, and upper shoulders with a load, _VWA-BOOOOM!_

Kestrel landed on the ground hard, in pain. Groaning, he took out his plasma rifle and fired a few shots into the tail, the bolts sealing the wound so that the acid wouldn't cause problems. Looking up at the stunned troopers, he yelled out, "Well, don't just stand there, pick me up and let's get the fuck out of here!"

Snapped out of their stupor, Charlie and Dutch went over and grabbed Kestral by the armpits, hauling him up even as he continued to hold the BFG and his plasma rifle. The troops made it into the ship as the horde of abominations came back out, and with Charlie flying, they soon blasted off just as the horde reached the door.

As they rode up into orbit, Dutch, Frost, hell, practically everyone who had served with Kestrel looked at him in shock. "Sir," Frost said. "When were you going to tell us?"

"Huh?" Kestrel asked. Frost pointed to his chest, now staining his shirt white. Kestrel looked down and saw the stain. "Oh. That. Umm, how do I put this, um-"

"You're a synthetic?" Bron asked in shock. It was a question in everyone's heads.

Kestrel shrugged. "Not in the usual sense."


	15. Arc 1: Tau Ceti: Going Home

_May 15, 2181_

_Onboard the _U.S.S. Nevada, DD-996

_Tau Ceti Orbit_

Standard watched as the UD-22 Navaho Heavy Dropship came to a stop inside of the _Nevada_'s portside drop bay. The red-headed android was worried, worried that there weren't many survivors left, worried that Nathan had been injured, or worse, killed, and just worried in general about the whole state of affairs. She watched as the dropships ramp fell down to the deck plating, and several crewmen then proceeded to help the survivors of the ship. Suddenly, a crewman shouted in fear as a xeno calmly walked off the ship, a little girl firmly clinging to its back.

Standard was about to raise the pistol she had been given from the armory when she heard Nathan shout from the dropship, "Don't shoot! He's friendly!"

"Bullshit!" shouted the crewman. The alien rolled its head around, clearly annoyed. Almost, Standard realized, like a teenager. Standard stood there in shock until someone cried out about what the hell an illegal combat synthetic was doing with them. Standard rushed over to the ramp and saw with rather comical surprise that Kestrel, the officer leading the Army Airborne team, had a nice big hole in his chest, was leaking silicate lubricating fluid, and was now proceeding to tell everyone that he was not a combat synthetic.

"Then what are you?" Standard asked, her voice whipping Nathan's head around to look at her. Kestrel looked at the android.

"I'm a one of a kind individual," he retorted snarkily. One of the scientists on board, a woman, snorted.

"Biggest understatement of the year," she said. The scientist looked up and saw Standard. "Great," she muttered. Nathan looked over at her, obviously ticked.

"Larissa, please, can the hostility to my girlfriend wait until _after_ we get back to Earth?" he asked, annoyed. Standard stood off to the side as the Marines and soldiers took Kestrel to the Medbay, per the lieutenant's continued and colorful insistence. So the scientist was Nathan's sister? Odd. She seemed absolutely nothing like her brother. She was apparently quite opinionated, was more into cutting open dead bodies, and hadn't talked to her brother in years.

Standard felt a hand touch her shoulder. Looking over, she saw the weary, but smiling face of her love. "Hey, don't let her faze you," Nathan said. "Larissa will come around eventually. Just give her time." Standard nodded.

"I'll try. Besides, it's in my programming as a pleasure droid to make people happy," she replied as the two of them walked over to the nearby armory so that Nathan could shrug off his weapons and armor. Nathan chuckled.

"Standard, the only people you need to worry about keeping happy are me, my sister, and if and when we meet them, my parents," Nathan said as he walked over to his locker. Opening it, he set the weapons off to the side and proceeded to take his armor off. Standard stepped in, and brushing Nathan's hands away from the buckles on his chest plate, took the armor off for him. Grinning, the two of them shared a kiss before someone, probably PFC. Frost, yelled for the two of them to get a damn room.

Without missing a beat, Nathan flipped Frost the bird, and the two of them heard the snickers from all of the other surviving troops at the insult. Parting, Nathan gently told Standard to wait outside while he put the rest of his gear away. Standard nodded, and stepped outside of the locker area. The moment she did so, however, she ran into Larissa. Standard immediately tensed, seeing the other woman's look of –what was it? Disdain? Anger? In either case, Larissa sighed.

"So," the scientist said. "How did you get my brother to fall for you?" Standard blinked. Off all the things she expected to come from Larissa's mouth, that wasn't exactly what Standard thought she'd say first.

"Well," Standard said hesitantly. "I was originally using Nathan as a way to be a bit more human. But after a while…I don't know. No amount of programming I think can explain it. I guess we just well…"

"You fell in love," Larissa stated bluntly. Standard nodded. Larissa rubbed her temple in annoyance. "Fine, I guess I can respect that. But you'd better have a better argument against our mother when we bring you to her. She's a bit…old fashioned, if you know what I mean."

Standard raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Actually, Nathan hasn't really told me much about your parents." Larissa's fell into shock, and then rage as she saw he brother come out of the locker room.

"Naathan…," Larissa hissed angrily, glaring daggers at her brother. Nathan noticed the look on his sister's face, and did the logical thing for any man in that situation. He backed away slowly.

"Larissa, what did I do wrong this time?" he asked, a look of panic slowly creeping onto his face. Meanwhile, several of the Marines and other military personnel were standing off to the side, enjoying the show. It was actually quite funny.

"Nathan, my little brother, why did you not tell Standard about Mom?" Larissa asked sweetly, cracking her knuckles while slowly stalking towards him. Standard looked over at Nathan and noticed that he was sweating profusely, and looking for an exit route. So, this was Nathan described as 'the wrath of a twin sister.'

Nathan chuckled weakly. "Oh come on Larissa, what would you tell Mom if you fell in love with a synthetic?" he asked. That stopped Larissa dead in her tracks as she looked up in thought.

"Good point," she said. "But you're still not off the hook." Any continued discussion was interrupted by the captain speaking over the P.A.

"_All nonessential personnel please report to the cryobays. We will soon be engaging the Grav Drive, and it's a long trip. You all deserve a good rest. Wilkes out._"

It was then that Nathan was aware of the others looking at the little drama that he, his sister, and Standard were a part of. Turning around, he yelled out, "What do want, a dance routine? Get to the damn cryobays!" Grumbling good-naturedly, the troops dispersed and went off to the bowels of the ship, where row upon row of stasis tubes were. Nathan and Larissa, accompanied by Standard, walked there as well and were quite surprised to see Kestrel standing there as well, a massive patch on his chest, watching as what was left of his squad entered stasis. The android looked over to Nathan and nodded in respect, and then waited for the two of them, plus a few more people, to enter stasis before moving over to a vacant pod.

Standard noticed the action. "Why are you going into stasis?" she asked her fellow android. "You don't require it."

Kestrel shrugged as he inputted several commands into his pod's control panel. "It's a habit," he answered. "Makes me feel closer to the men and women I serve with." Well, that made a sort of odd sense to Standard.

"Kestrel," Standard asked. "Have you…have you ever killed a human before?"

Kestrel stopped as he was entering his pod. Sighing, the lieutenant nodded. "A few times. It never gets easier." He then leaned back into his pod, the lid shutting. Moments later, the glass covering him iced over as the body was exposed to freezing air, while the gas inside contained a soluble solution designed to prevent what was appropriately called 'freezer burn,' which back in the day, had been known to kill people due to the very nature of having bodily cells frozen.

Standard tilted her head in confusion. If she didn't know any better, she could have sworn that Kestrel exhibited signs of regret and remorse. Emotions that were completely foreign to a combat synthetic. So, what made him so…human? Standard apparently would have to wait until they got back to Earth to find out.

[][][]

_A scarred, battered human ship serenely glides through the void of space, the scars adding to the already formidable scars on the hull of the ship. Soon, the ship seems to stretch, and in less than picosecond, the _Nevada_ vanished, leaving behind a pair of nuclear warheads that were now obliterating the hive on Tau Ceti. The second nuke was just to make sure it stayed dead._

[][][]

A lone figure walks into the drop bay, and into the Navaho Dropship. Stopping at a floor panel, it pries it open, and drags out a box with the infamous W/Y logo. Opening it, it takes out a small, alien artifact and smiles grimly.

Mr. Weyland will be pleased when this gets to Gateway. Or better yet, when it reached the labs hidden under San Francisco.

\\/\\/

**END ARC ONE (1): TAU CETI**

**[][][]**

**Wow. Just, wow. I mean, it took me a few months, but I finally got to the end of this bloody arc of the story! But, knowing me, it would have taken much longer if it weren't for the reviews and character submissions of Warlord Darnell and JJZ-109, both of whom have kept this story going. Thank you both! Now, next chapter will be the ever loved Tac Files, and then, well, **_**then**_** we get to why this fic is called 'Homefront.' Anyway, this is the author, signing off.**


	16. Tac Files 4

**Tactical Files, Compiled and Abridged, Data-stream #4**

**Cornbread: **noun) generic term used for any type of bread made with cornmeal and baking powder. Also a type of dessert in USCMC field and ship rations. Reportedly tastes so bad, that not even Intervernicus raptus are immune to its effects.

That myth has now been proven true. Cornbread is an effective xeno poisoning agent, but use only as a last resort.

**BFG:** …It's a big fucking gun. Unknown ammunition type, unknown ammo capacity, well known ass-kicking abilities.

**Deep Space Aperture Drive:** The Deep Space Aperture Drive is a rather revolutionary way to facilitate FTL travel in the modern age. First used in 2165, the DSAD works by creating a microscopic wormhole that the ship in question squeezes into; the resulting trip is rather quick, relatively speaking. However, compared to the

Romberg-Rockwell Cygnus 5 Tachyon Shunt Hyperdrive

, the DSAD is much more unstable, as several ships have lost crewmen to the intricate void of hyperspace. However, the distance per day covered by the DSAD, outclasses many at a rate of 5.23 light years per day. Manufactured by Driftech for their cargo haulers, and newer U.S. and NATO warships.

**Xenomorph, "Rogue":**__Combat data inconclusive. Subject was only met once, and remains were destroyed by orbital nuke strike from the U.S.S. _Nevada_. Killed by use of experimental Big Fucking Gun by U.S. Army Second Lieutenant Kestrel.

**Xenomorph "Spitter: **This advanced strain of xeno was first met on the second investigation of Acheron LV-426by Marines of the U.S.S. _Sephora_. Roughly half the size of a Praetorian, this strain retains the acid spitting ability of the Runner, but with greater range and accuracy. This is their equivalent of a sniper. Best killed at long range.

**Xenomorph "Boiler":** A dedicated anti-armor strain, the Boiler also has a nasty reputation as a suicide bomber, in which it will wait for a squad to pass right under it before it self detonates. Their blood is even more acidic than most strains, and has been able to dissolve even the armor of the M557 APC used the United States Colonial Marine Corps. in seconds.

**Combat Synthetics: ** Banned after the events of BG-386, combat synthetics were often used by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation to enforce their Bio-Weapons Division's want of a living Xenomorph specimen. While capable of following orders (to a point; their loyalty to the Company is better than that of the employees in some cases), a typical combat synthetic is cold, emotionless, and utterly machine like in its duty. So, it comes as a shock that Kestrel is apparently a combat synthetic. But why does he seem so…human in his remorse for killing? Better yet, what the hell happened to his inhibitors? And why did Driftech make him?


	17. Arc 2: Terra: Arrival

_May 30, 2181_

_Onboard the _U.S.S. Nevada, DD-996

_Entering Earth Orbit_

The recently thawed soldiers, Marines, crewmen and survivors of Tau Ceti were now lounging about in the mess hall, eating somewhat better than normal ship rations. Earlier, many of the civilians, and most of the military personnel, had the _wonderful_ opportunity to realize again why they hated the airborne antifreeze that collected in their lungs to keep them alive.

The stuff tasted like ration cornbread, but in mucus form. So, it was a good thing that the flooring directly in front of the pods was designed for the inevitable barf fest. Kestrel, oddly enough, was one of those who hacked up a disgusting ball of slime, and was clutching his chest in pain. Standard was busy with some cryotechs when she saw Dutch stand up, look at her, and point at the door to the mess hall, and held up five fingers. Standard nodded, and five minutes later, she, Nathan, and Larissa were in the hall eating a much better meal than was on a Marine transport. Nathan was eating something that resembled a waffle, with some sugar enhanced syrup, and Larissa simply went for a light salad. Looking around, Nathan was surprised to see Kestrel in the hall with them, a group of technicians behind him fussing over him.

It was rather amusing to see a synthetic tell a bunch of techies to go screw themselves.

As it was, Larissa turned to look at her brother. "So," she said between bites of salad. "Think they'll let us off at Gateway?"

Nathan shook his head. "Nah, don't think so," he answered. "This is an Army ship, so different base of operations."

Standard nodded. "He's right. As of now, the _Nevada_ is en route to James L. Stone Orbital Dockyard for repairs and offloading," she explained. Larissa raised an eyebrow at that tidbit of info as the captain spoke on the P.A. system again for the first time in a few weeks.

"_Attention. We will begin docking with JLS Orbital in ten. By that time, I want all personnel ready to assist in offloading survivors. Also, Kestrel, Corporal van Hold, Doctor van Hold, and Standard are to report to the number three airlock, portside in twenty. Thank you._"

Everyone in the mess hall started eating quicker. In five minutes, everyone was done. In one, everyone had left.

[][][]

_The James L. Stone Orbital Dockyard is a marvel of engineering. Nearly as large as Gateway Station, the dockyard was finished in 2145, and has since seen many United States and NATO vessels go through its docks to be refitted, repaired, and for some, built. Able to house nearly twenty carriers, the _Nevada_ has no trouble at all finding a place to dock. _

_Soon, power loaders scramble to move parts and equipment in to fix hull breaches and other bits of internal damage, and people in EVA engineering hardsuits fly out to fix the hull itself. Meanwhile, guards shuttle survivors off the ship and into processing. One of them slipped through, more or less unnoticed, holding a hard traveling case. Minutes later, after he was processed, the Weyland-Yutani spy was on a shuttle ride down to the surface, to where he would deliver the alien relic to his boss, Karl Bishop Weyland himself; not an android fashioned from his likeness, but the man himself. _

[][][]

Nathan stood by the airlock, and he was oddly enough in full combat gear. It was a request from a Driftech executive, that he appear in the uniform he was in on Tau Ceti, and that Larissa, Standard, Kestrel, and Allen be there as well. So, there they were. A marine, a scientist, and a xeno. Fuck, that sounded like the start of a bad joke. The light above the airlock went from red to yellow, air hissing into it. Moments later, the light turned green and the airlock finally opened. Nathan saw, with some trepidation, a three star _general_ standing on the other side, flanked by a pair of soldiers wearing…was that actually what Nathan thought it was? Hell, the Army hadn't used Driftech Reflex Armor in years! As in, since 2050, when they were deemed 'too expensive to field.'

As it was, Nathan and Kestrel saluted. Well, Nathan did. He heard a metallic _snap!_ come from Kestrel, and glancing over, he saw that Kestrel's arm was hanging limply by his side. The general nodded. "At ease you two," he said gruffly. Nathan stopped the salute and stood in parade rest. The general looked over them, eyes staying over Allen for a brief second longer than the others. "Everyone, follow me. We'll be taking the tram system to the Driftech R&D Division here at the docks."

Kestrel just nodded as Larissa spoke up. "Um, sir, are you sure about that? I don't have the clearance to even _go_ there, and Corporal van Hold-"

"Is here on both my and the CEO of Driftech's authority," Kestrel said, clutching his side. "And furthermore, you're the only one with any knowledge of Allen's unique physiology, so that is now a moot point." Looking to the general, he asked "Care if I lead the way sir?"

The general waved for him to do so, and now the group was following Kestrel down the service halls, where they soon came to a tram. Walking up to the high end security lock, Kestrel placed his thumb on the scanner, allowed his eye to be scanned, and said clearly into the mike, "Tram authorization Gulf-Mike-seven-two-one-Kilo-Delta-Victor-one." The doors to the tram opened up, and the group piled in. The doors closed, and the tram soon sped off to another part of the dockyards. Popping out into an area in vacuum, Nathan, Larissa, Standard, and Allen all turned to look at the ship being built off in an obscure part of the dockyards.

It was huge, considering the fact that it had a Mark IX Magnetic Acceleration Cannon for a keel, along with some other type of cannon. It seemed to be halfway done, but the group of four could already _feel_ the ship's intimidating aura from their position in the tram. Two minutes later, the tram pulled into another tram station, only this one was busy with Driftech employees going about their business. Stepping off, the group proceeded to a nearby elevator and went in. Kestrel inserted a key, and the elevator rose up into the business' levels. It took only thirty seconds for them to reach their destination, and the group soon got off.

"No, I don't want to discuss how much the company stock is going to fall! Something just happened on one of our facilities, and we're lucky we didn't lose more people than we already did!" yelled a man standing in front of a wall of monitors, each displaying another member of the Interstellar Trade Comission. Kestrel sighed and spoke.

"Now if you excuse me, I have people to talk to right now." The previous speaker shut the monitors off and sighed.

"So," he said, his voice shockingly similar to Kestrel's. "How bad is the damage?"

Kestrel didn't bother shrugging. "Half my squad dead, eighteen Marines KIA, and nearly four hundred nonmilitary personnel lost."

"ClusterfuckingshitfacedHoove rfucking-"

"FUBARedshitstormof Hell," Kestrel finished. Nathan looked at his sister and girlfriend in bewilderment.

"Gentlemen," Kestrel said, putting his one functional arm over the man's shoulders. "This is the CEO and head of Driftech's Research and Development of Advanced Applied Sciences, Alexander James Monnot."

Alex waved a peace sign to them. "Yo." And now that they had the time to look at them, Nathan, Larissa, Standard, and Allen could only stare at both Kestrel and Alex. The brown hair, the hazel eyes; the wrinkles were the same, down to the last twitch.

"So, what is Kestrel?" asked Nathan. Standard leaned in a bit, eager to hear the answer.

"I," Kestrel began, "Am an artificial intelligence based on the thought processes of the late founder of Driftech, Gabriel Monnot. The body I have now is currently the seventh I've had so far."

"But how is that any different from a normal synthetic?" Standard asked.

Alex shrugged. "Garret is unique in that his thought matrix is designed to degrade like a normal person's, similar to how memory operates. He also never had the Three Laws installed, and he never will have them installed," he explained.

Nathan looked at Alex. "So, what's your story sir?"

Alex laughed. "Me? Ha, I personally am a clone of Gabriel Monnot."

Silence reigned for seconds, until pandemonium rang out.

[][][]

"The relic is secure, and the data uploaded sir."

"Good," came the gravelly voice of Karl Bishop Weyland. "Initiate the procedure as soon as you can. We'll need every weapon we can make if we are to survive this war with the Hunters." Weyland barely heard his underling say his understanding as he turned to face his office window and admired the view.

A view of San Francisco at dusk.

:\_/:

**And so begins the Terra Arc of 'Aliens: Homefront!' I hope you all like the story so far, and I want to wish you a happy New Year!**


	18. Arc 2: Terra: Express Elevator

_Weyland-Yutani Headquarters, San Francisco, Terra_

_Underground Research Lab #4_

The mole from Tau Ceti watched as the technicians finished hooking up the relic to the local power grid. It was small, but appearances were certainly deceiving in this case. It was fully capable of creating bioweapons of rather terrible power. Which was just what they would need to fight the Yautja. The mole looked over at the lead scientist and nodded. The egghead in question nodded back and flipped a switch. With a loud hum, the relic activated.

From a camera stationed on the window, Karl Bishop Weyland watched as the relic started glowing. A door opened, and in came a 'volunteer,' a convicted killer who was supposedly executed two days ago. He took one look at the relic, and then fell to the ground in pain. With his cries of pain ignored, Weyland watched as the man changed, turning into a xenomorph. But wait, something was wrong, very, very wrong. He was getting bigger, bigger than even a queen, close to the size of a Ravager! With a bone chilling shriek, it smashed several consoles and bits of machinery. And one of those consoles was for the shielding in the lab!

Karl Bishop Weyland could only watch in horror as all hell broke loose in his basement. Literally.

His finger jabbed a number on his phone. After it connected, Weyland all but shouted to the Commandant of the Colonial Marines, "Send in your troops, we have a problem here!"

[][][]

"So you're a clone?" Nathan asked. Alexander nodded.

"Yep!" he answered cheerfully. "Granted, I'm well aware of the laws about cloning, and all the religious and ethical qualms about it, but I don't really care." Alexander looked at Kestrel. "Garret is bit of an oddball. Combat synthetics have been banned since BG-392, and then beforehand in 2084, after the First A.I. War."

"So, why are you here?" Standard asked, the red headed android curious as to the unique position of the other android and the clone.

Alex looked at Standard. "You mean here at this facility?" Standard nodded. Alex nodded. "I suppose genetic memory. I don't really know. I just liked doing the same things that the original did, even though I had no idea at the time."

Suddenly, one of the monitors on the wall switched to a news station, while at the same time, the General's pager went off. The group turned to the monitor, where a shocked news anchor sat there.

"_This Charles Langdon of Fox-12 in the Bay Area, and we have shocking news. Xenomorphs have been sighted in the Weyland-Yutani main office, and they are rampaging all over the place! If our estimates are correct, then they will be here on the mainland in less than half an hour! Please, if anyone is still watching this, please, send in the military! Please, help us! Wait, what is-OH GOD, THEY'RE HERE! RUN! EVERYONE GET OUT! NONONON-AUUUGGHH!_"

Everyone flinched as the news reporter was attacked on live T.V. by a xeno, the camera soon being knocked over, sparing viewers the sight of a man being devoured. However, it did nothing to muffle the sounds. Nathan, Kestrel, and Alex all turned to look at the General, who now hung up the phone. "The President has declared a state of emergency in the Bay Area. Any and all available combat units are to immediately drop in to wipe out this infestation," the General said simply.

Alex nodded. "Understood sir. Anything else we need to know?" he asked, assuming the role of Kestrel in a heartbeat.

The General nodded. "Yes, the Interstellar Trade Commission, the U.S.C.M.C., and the U.N. are saying that extreme prejudice is to be shown to the assets of Weyland-Yutani's Bioweapons Division." Alex nodded as he looked over at Nathan.

"Dutch, you're coming with me," he said simply. Nathan nodded and went after the oddball clone. Taking a phone out, Alex dialed a number as sirens went off in the base, alerting all available military personnel to report to their battle stations. Getting a connection, Alex ordered that the soldiers from the _Nevada_ to report to Armory Zero, and that they should have been there last week. Nathan looked at Alex in confusion. What the hell could possibly be in this 'Armory Zero?' And as they were walking, Alex was looking at his phone intently, reading the files that were being sent to him by the General.

The duo soon came across a thick metal door. In seconds, Alex had entered in a keycode, had his retina scanned, and submitted a genetic sample. The locks _thunked_ open, and that was when the survivors from Tau Ceti got there. They all went in, and stood there slack jawed. This was most certainly an armory, as racks upon racks of weapons were posted along the walls, along with sets of armor.

Nathan looked at the armor in wonder. There in the back, in pristine condition, were twenty sets of Mk. III Semi-Powered Reflex Enhanced Armor. If Nathan remembered his military history correctly, then there were only fifty of those suits of armor left in existence, and there in front of him were at least twenty of those legendary suits.

"The rest of them are in storage dirtside," Alex said, noting Nathan's look of wonder. "However, you won't be wearing them. You, my dear little grunt, will be testing those." Nathan turned and saw suits of armor that looked similar to the Mk. III, but were much more…streamlined. "Thor, go to locker three, access code five-seven-alpha-niner, and get that suit over to the fitting ring over there," Alex ordered his gunner, pointing to an odd ring filled with robotic arms. "SEAL Girl, get in that recon armor over there, and please for the love of God keep the camera on and running. I've read your record, and it needs to change." Charlotte burned red at the light reprimand from the lieutenant.

The fire team of soldiers, lone Marine, and solitary SEAL quickly got into their respective armors, and Alex gave them a quick rundown of what their armors did. Thor's was a Mk. III Gunnery/Assault Powered Assault Armor, and as such, was very tough to crack. However, even with the massively powerful GAU-14 20mm Assault Cannon attached to the suit, and the acid-resistant treated blade on his left arm, Thor was not to get close to any xeno. Charlotte was in the relatively new Mk. II Stealth Armor, as was fitting for her SpecOps training. She was lightly armored, but she could sneak in where the rest of them couldn't. Everyone else, minus Alex, was wearing what Driftech called the pinnacle achievement for their Reflex Suits: the Mk. V.

Everyone who wasn't Thor grabbed an M38 pulse rifle, and from there, their weapons differed. Dutch went with that M30 rifle he had found on Tau Ceti, Iceman, Rushmore, and Charlotte went with a flamethrower, an M24 5.6mm SMG, and a SPAS-12 shotgun, respectively. Bandito grabbed a grenade launcher, and Alex himself took the M7 UPR. Each one made sure that they carried enough ammo for an assault.

"Alright everyone, to the drop bay! Follow me!" Alex ordered, hustling out of the armory. The others followed, and soon came into the drop bay. Only, instead of a dropship, they saw several dozen drop pods, each capable of carrying at least a squad in them. "Pack 'em in, pack em' in!" Alex yelled, ushering them in. They all got in and strapped themselves down. Alex cracked his neck. "Midway Station, this is Coyote, requesting permission for drop," he asked.

"_Coyote, you are cleared for drop. Godspeed_."

Coyote hit a button next to him, and with a gut-wrenching jerk, the drop pod unlatched itself from its moorings and plummeted to down to Earth. As they all fell, Coyote looked over his troops. "Listen up!" he shouted over the sounds of a shaking titanium egg travelling at speeds in excess of Mach twenty. "We'll be falling in with the rest of the 82nd Airborne down in Ashbury Heights! We hit the dirt, we get out, and we start pushing those alien fuckers back! We have been asked by General Redmond himself to get into the Weyland-Yutani HQ, extract Weyland if he's still alive, and bring that building down! Any questions?"

Dutch nodded. "Yes sir, I got one. Are we going to have some inflight entertainment on this drop, or we going to fall asleep from how boring this will be?"

Coyote laughed. "Why yes Dutch, we will have entertainment! It's called, 'Pray that we don't go splat in this damn pod!'"

Iceman expressed it in an even better way. "WOOOOO! WE ARE ON THE EXPRESS ELEVATOR TO HELL! GOING DOWN!"

And Iceman was right. They were indeed going to Hell.


	19. Arc 2: Terra: Somebody Wake Up Hicks!

_Ashbury-Heights, San Francisco, Terra_

_Mission Time: 00:01:25 Local Time: 08:56:24 P.M._

_Video Log: Corporal van Hold, Nathan Security Clearance: Green_

Dutch felt the pod slam into the ground, and quicker than he thought possible, he unlatched himself from the pod and drew put his rifle as Coyote opened up the pod doors. He went out, and almost immediately started shooting xenos. One by one, the rest of them fell out, adding their own firepower to the mix. Dutch quickly looked around, and saw that they were behind a police barricade, and they were about to be swarmed by xenos, and those God-awful husks from Tau Ceti. Behind them were drop pods from the 82nd Airborne, all of them advancing and adding carnage to the hell hole they were already in.

"Thor, Iceman, I want you on fire support for those cops! Dutch, SEAL, get on that rooftop and give us some overwatch! Everyone else, keep the fucking pressure on!" Coyote yelled, nailing a xeno in the head before it could leap at a reloading cop. Dutch and Charlotte hustled to said building, avoiding the fire going over their heads from their comrades. Breaking down the door, Dutch ducked so that Charlotte could blast the xeno inside to hell. The two of them went in, and headed up the stairs. Reaching the roof, Dutch all but flew over to the side of the building overlooking Piedmont Street. He could almost watch dispassionately as he witnessed the horde of aliens crawling over buildings to get to them.

"Sir, requesting we have an airstrike! Shit's getting too damn hot!" Charlotte yelled into her comm, doing her best to snipe with her own pulse rifle.

"_THEN PAINT THE TARGET DAMMIT!_" Coyote yelled back, his pulse rifle thundering away. Charlotte shook her head and activated the targeting laser on the side of her gun. Dutch however was viewing his ninth target in his new rifle's crosshairs, and fired an 8.65mm magnetically accelerated FMJ round into the head of something that may have become a boiler somewhere down the road. About twenty seconds later, an F/B-32 Widower flew over and delivered a twin set of five ton bombs. The resulting explosion cleared out a majority of the xenos, and resulting buildings, from the immediate area.

Dutch looked over at Charlotte. "Overkill much?" he asked her jokingly.

Charlotte shrugged. "Dunno. Never did this before," she answered. Dutch could only nod in agreement.

:\_/:

_Video Log: 2__nd__ Lieutenant "Coyote" Security Clearance: Red_

_Mission Time: 00:05:10 Local Time: 08:59:59_

Coyote looked down the street and fired a single three round burst, sending yet another xeno down to oblivion. He walked up to the nearest cop and slung his rifle away. For now. "Sitrep," he said, watching the cop's reaction of awe.

"We got Golden Gate and Eisenhower blocked off, and everything from the southwest end of Golden Gate Park to Chavez Street is barricaded. So far all of our units are holding, thanks to you all and the Marines," the cop said hurriedly. "Our drones have another wave of those things about ten minutes out. What do you want us to do?"

Coyote looked up. "I want you to tell any birds of yours up in the air and armed that nothing that ain't human passes the barricade. And I want to know the quickest way to Wey-Yu HQ," Coyote replied. The cop beckoned Coyote to follow him, and the two of them walked over to a small table with a map of the Bay Area.

"We're here," the cop said, pointing at Ashbury-Heights on the map. "Wey-Yu is here in the bay, so best route for you guys would be to go head onto Castro Street, take a left onto 16th, and drive straight down to the docks. Wey-Yu has a maintenance tunnel there, take you right there into their front lawn." Coyote nodded.

"Thanks. You there, Private!" Coyote yelled, pointing at a nearby private who froze up. "Hand me your target designator!"

"Sir yes sir!" the private yelled back, tossing the device over to Coyote. Catching it, Coyote dimly noted that it was made by his company and handed it over to the cop.

"This is a D86 MJOLNIR Orbital Designator," Coyote explained. "This thing is hooked up to a pair of satellites up in orbit, one of which contains thirty-" A massive boom was heard coming from the north. "Twenty-nine rocket propelled, cobalt tipped tungsten darts. They will go off with the same amount of force as forty battleship shells going off at the same time, in the same place. Minimum distance is a hundred meters, am I understood?" The cop nodded. "Good. Now, I'm going to get my men and pay Mr. Weyland a visit." Coyote opened up his squad comm and whistled. "Fall in to my position, on the double!"

The squad soon scrambled over to Coyote. "Sir, what is it?" Dutch asked. Coyote smirked under his visor.

"Corporal, how good is your driving?" he asked as he eyed a pair of vehicles; an M15 LRV Puma, with chaingun in the back, and a heavy-duty flatbed truck.

[][][]

_Video Log: Corporal Hicks, Dwayne Security Level: Blue_

_Mission Time: 00:08:30 Local Time: 09:03:19 P.M._

_Beaver Street_

Hicks was not having a good day. First of all, he had been 'reassigned' to menial duty by the USCMC, courtesy of The Company, and now, as he fired his lovingly remade Ithaca 37, he was almost forced to relive the events of LV-426. Both events, to be precise. Currently he was firing at a group of nearly two dozen xenos, all of whom were over one hundred yards away, and closing fast.

Suddenly, a God-awful noise came into being. Hicks, along with the xenos, stopped to simply wonder what the hell was going on. What, was that…?

"Jesus, what the hell is that music?!" Hicks cried out, seconds before an Army issue Puma came flying around the bend, the passenger and gunner screaming for their lives. The driver, on the other hand, was laughing like a madman. The jeep hit the pavement, and the gunner opened fire, tearing the xenos apart with ease. Ten seconds later, a truck came out as well, and the two vehicles stopped, giving Hicks a good look at the occupants. They were all wearing some kind of advanced armor, and one of them looked like a walking tank, considering the giant multibarreled cannon on the soldier's right arm. The driver of the Puma came up to him.

"Need a lift?" he asked. Hicks just looked at the soldier and noticed his lieutenant's bar.

"Sir, I'm just wondering where you're going," Hicks drawled. The lieutenant shook with amusement.

"We're going to Wey-Yu HQ, kill a few bugs on the way. Just want to know who you are before you get on."

Hicks cracked his neck and headed to the truck. "Name's Hicks sir. Corporal Hicks, formerly of the U.S.S. Sulaco." The entire squad looked at each in shock and awe. Now this guy was a legend! The driver put out his hand.

"Coyote. Now get on the truck and give Thor some cover fire, just in case. We aren't really breaking for anything, except to kick Weyland's ass," Coyote ordered. Hicks nodded and rushed off to the truck in question. Climbing onto it, Hicks sat next to Thor's leg and waited. Seconds later, the vehicles started moving again.

"So, how did you make it off of 426 alive? Better yet, why ain't you dead on Fury 161?" Dutch asked from his spot in the truck's driver seat.

Hicks groaned. "Long story," he said simply. Iceman huffed.

"With all due respect man, we got time," he said. Hicks sighed.

"Alright, I guess I owe it to you guys for pulling my ass out of the fire like that," he admitted. "So we get the call a couple of years back that the colony on 426 went dark…."

[][][]

Weyland was starting to panic. Most of his staff had either been turned to xenos, were impregnated, or were getting eaten by xenos. And to make things worse, that thing in his basement…well, it was eating the smaller xenos, and it was burrowing through the walls. And it was what was on the other side of that wall that Weyland was worried about. For the first time in his family's history, a Weyland was having doubts about the creature taken from Gunnison. Better yet, Charles Bishop Weyland should never have gone to Antarctica in the first place….

[][][]

**Oh dearie me, I've done it! I've put in a member of the Official Aliens crew, and I am sincerely hoping I did Hicks justice in this! Although when I saw the youtube video of the reveal, I was actually expecting Hudson. But, now that I think of it, I think I saw his corpse down in the sewers, right before Winter meets the Boilers. Oh well. Anyway, this is the author, signing out for now! And keep reading and reviewing trooper! **


	20. Tac Files 5

**Tactical Files, Compiled and Abridged, Data-stream #5**

[][][]

**Driftech Mk. III, V Reflex Armor:** The centerpiece of Driftech Industries, the Marks Three and Five Semi-Powered Reflex Enhanced Armor was, for its time, the most advanced armor system on Earth. By using a series of electroactive polymers in key joints around the body, an individual wearing Reflex armor could easily dodge most forms of attack. In the event that one was shot, the armor was built with an undersuit layered with titanium carbide plates no more than a couple of millimeters thick. The Mk. III enjoyed great success during the 2040s, when the UN first began large scale operations against North Korean forces. However, by 2055, the U.S. Department of the Army deemed the suits "too expensive to maintain on the field." What they apparently forgot was that the Mk. III was designed for combat flexibility in mind, and is not designed for any one role. One notable user of the armor was the highly elusive soldier known as "Coyote." Records of the time between 2055 and 2078 are sketchy at best, but it is widely believed that Coyote was a former military operative, was skilled in the use of his armor, and simply disappeared without a trace.

The current model of the Reflex Armor, the Mk. V, features increased reaction and response time with the electroactive polymers, an integrated motion tracker, and in a first, an acid resistant coating. Undergoing battlefield testing in San Francisco.

**M15 LRV: **The M15 LRV, designated by NATO as the Puma, and jokingly called the Warthog, is a rapid response, light attack vehicle suited for hit-and-run attacks, recon, and troop mobility. Designed and made by the General Motor Company, the Puma is built like a rock, and in the event that it leaves the ground, will always land on its wheels.

**Corporal Dwayne Hicks: **One of fourteen Colonial Marines who went in to investigate Acheron LV-426 initially, Hicks is the only surviving member of his squad. Currently armed with a new shotgun, basic armor, and is riding in the back of a truck with a walking tank.

**The Gunnison Incident: **Sealed tighter than Weyland's arse, this file is known to exist to only a few on Earth. Coyote is one of them. In it, it details the events and technological repurcussions of the Yautja presence in Gunnison, CO, and the subsequent infestation and nuclear annialation of the town in one day. The file also has links to an incident in Antarctica where Weyland Industries founder Sir Charles Bishop Weyland died in unknown circumstances. Of the two cases, there were a combined total of five survivors.


	21. Arc 2: Terra: What the is That Music?

_16__th__ Street, San Francisco, Terra_

_Mission Time: 00:11:30 Local Time: 09:06:19 P.M._

_Video Log: 2__nd__ Lieutenant Coyote Security Clearance: Red_

[][][]

_Skreeeech!_

"Watch out!" _THUD!_

"SLOW DOWN!" _SKRUNCH!_

"I think I'm gonna be sick…" _THUMP!_

"Who the hell taught you how to drive?!" Charlotte yelled as Coyote recklessly drove down 16th Street, running by, through, over, and into as many xenos as possible. Bandito himself was looking quite queasy as he manned the .30 caliber machine gun in the back of the Puma. Another bug popped out, and Coyote swerved to hit it.

"GODDAMIT SIR, WATCH OUT!" Bandito yelled out as he clutched the trigger handles for dear life. Behind the Puma, the riders of the truck looked back at the destruction caused by a certain lieutenant.

Hicks looked up at Thor. "Is this normal?" he asked. The machine gunner nodded.

"Yeah," the Minnesota native replied. "That's why we don't allow him to drive anything anymore." Thor fired a short burst at a spitter that peered over the roof of one of the buildings. "That generally leaves him only to pilot the loaders and some of the current models of military exo-suits." Rushmore, Iceman, and Thor shuddered.

"Yeah, and he almost destroyed our barracks by accident once," Rushmore quipped. Hicks looked over at the Puma in shock.

"Please tell me you're kidding," Hicks asked. The remnants of Kestrel's squad shook their heads. Hicks gulped as he held his shotgun. Meanwhile, Coyote was still driving like a maniac.

"We're almost there!" he shouted to his men and borrowed Marines and SEAL, just as they passed under the interstate. Seconds later, the two vehicles were swerving to the left, heading to the building conspicuously painted with the Weyland-Yutani logo. Just as they reached it, Coyote hit the brakes and swerved to a stop right in front of the entrance. The truck soon stopped as well, and the troops disembarked.

Charlotte moved to the corner of the building to check the perimeter. Stopping, she checked the scenery and nodded. She then noticed the drool coming down onto her shoulder. Looking up, she screamed as a spitter descended down upon her. Panicking, she whipped out her shotgun and fired repeatedly at it. The monster died, but it fell onto the SEAL, its torn-up head landing on her arm. Immediately, the armor started smoking, and seconds later, just as the rest of the squad turned the corner, Charlotte screamed in agony as the acid burned into her flesh. Charlotte passed out as Rushmore dropped down beside her. "Stay with me! Fuck, stay with us!" Rushmore yelled at the SEAL. The medic yanked her out from under the xeno and looked at the smoking arm. Taking the knife strapped to her thigh, Rushmore sliced off Charlotte's arm and slapped on a massive bandage to stop the bleeding.

Coyote all but roared into helmet's radio, "This Lieutenant Alex Monnot of the 82nd, requesting immediate CASEVAC for wounded Navy asset! I repeat, this is Lieutenant Monnot of the 82nd, requesting CASEVAC!"

"_Monnot, this is CASEVAC Echo-one-niner, what's the status of the patient?"_ asked the pilot of an airborne CASEVAC MV-88. Coyote looked down at Charlotte.

"Bad. Dead spitter landed on her arm, and our medic had to amputate it. We're doing what we can, but unless she has immediate attention, I don't think she's gonna make it," he replied, hefting his pulse rifle.

"_Understood. What's your current position?_"

"We are at Pier fifty-four, right in front of a Wey-Yu access tunnel!" Coyote yelled as he and several other troops shot apart a passing xeno.

"_Roger that, be there in one mike._"

Coyote turned to Hicks. "Corporal, pop a flare! We need to get her out of here!" he ordered. Hicks nodded and rummaged through the Puma, taking out a medium sized pack of flares. Taking one, he popped the flare's cap and lit it. Tossing it to the ground, Hicks took the SEALs pulse rifle and ammo and slung his shotgun away.

Soon, the MV-88 came to a hover near the small group, its troop bay filled with wounded soldiers and Marines. "Thanks!" Coyote shouted over the roar of the VTOLs engines. The crew chief flashed a thumbs up as the aircraft flew off, probably to some other unit with wounded.

Dutch looked over at Coyote. "Sir, what's the plan?" he asked. "Other than go down a tunnel?"

Hicks looked at Dutch. "Dutch, this tunnel is nearly a mile and half long, and probably full of xenos. The only way to the facility from where we are is that tunnel, and I see no way we can get through and not suffer casualties," Hicks said hotly. As Dutch and Hicks fell into a heated argument, Coyote looked at the Puma and pickup truck with a rather thoughtful expression. Then, it hit him.

"Or we make them all leave the tunnel, and we slip in," Coyote said, stopping the argument between the corporals. They all looked at him in confusion as he walked over to the Puma.

[][][]

The mix of boilers, drones, warriors, and occasional crusher were just minding their own businesses when the sound came blasting down the tunnel. It was horrible! So much plick-planking, the sound of a human that probably should have died of lung cancer from smoking too many cancer-sticks, and it was just damn horrible in general. The horde moved as one, to not only bring in hosts, but also to shut that damn racket up!

What remained of the squad looked on in amusement as the xenos flooded out of the tunnel heading towards the Puma and truck, both of them playing country music at full volume. They soon went right into the tunnel, hoping that the vehicles would keep them occupied for a while.

[][][]

Weyland was now sweating bullets. The…thing, that was currently in his basement was patrolling its territory, and was getting close to the access tunnel that lead to the containment unit for the oldest xeno that Weyland-Yutani had ever known. Granted, the eggheads had theorized, based on appearances, that it was the result of crossbreeding with a Hunter, but it still made it no more dangerous than any other xeno. Weyland just hoped that help would get here soon.

**Soon…soon, this will come to an end! Until next time my dear readers!**


	22. Arc 2: Terra: Hive and Queen

_Weyland-Yutani Maintenance Tunnel, San Francisco, Terra_

_Mission Time: 00:15:50 Local Time: 09:10:39 PM_

_Video Log: 2LT. Monnot, Alex Security Clearance: Red_

[][][]

The team was about half-way down the tunnel when they heard it. At first, it was a sort of low, barely audible clicking. That had made Dutch tense up as Coyote led the team down the tunnel. After they got to the three quarters of the way point, they all saw a flash of light at the end of the tunnel. Signaling them to move, Coyote sprinted off to the end of the tunnel, not wanting to be there when the xenos behind him and his troops caught up to them.

"Sir, how much further?" Thor asked as he continued to haul around his cannon. Coyote checked his TACPAD.

"Not far!" he responded. "Only three hundred more meters to go!" They all tried to run as fast as they could, trying to get to the blast door that was at the end of the tunnel. Upon reaching, Coyote stopped and turned around. Much to his horror, the boilers were rushing back down the tunnel, straight to their position. "MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" he shouted, ushering the rest of his men inside. Taking a single grenade, Coyote armed the proximity detonation setting and threw it. Jumping behind the doorway, he all but demanded, "Iceman, get this door shut, NOW!"

Iceman did so, clipping a bypass module to the controls of the door. Twenty tense seconds later, the massive blast doors shut, sealing the tunnel off from the rest of the facility. Which was both a good thing, and a bad thing. A good thing, because the high explosive grenade Coyote threw earlier detonated just then, and bad because there were untold numbers of xenos in the facility proper.

"Alright, sound off," Coyote ordered as the team checked their immediate surroundings. "Thor?"

The assault armored trooper spoke up. "Ready to bring the pain sir!"

"Iceman?"

"Still here el-tee."

"Rushmore?"

"Can't get rid of me that easily sir!" replied the medic cheekily. Coyote chuckled.

"Alright. Malloy, sound off."

"Here sir."

"Dutch?"

"Ready to kick some Weyland ass sir," Dutch said hotly, drawing out his shotgun. Hicks nodded.

"Yeah, he and I have some unfinished business," Hicks drawled venomously as he checked the ammo in his borrowed pulse rifle. Coyote nodded.

"Alright, here's the plan. We get to the main elevator, go up to the top floor where I am likely to bet my ridiculous salary that Weyland is there, drag him down to the main courtyard, and get the fuck out. With a city this big, I'm afraid that we might have to drop ATHENA to contain this damn outbreak," Coyote said to his team. "Any questions?"

"Sir, what do we do for ammunition? I don't Wey-Yu stocks twenty mills in their HQ sir," Thor said, lifting up his gatling cannon. Coyote nodded.

"You ghost as many as you can Thor. Get low, drop the gun, find something else to use. Hell, with that suit on, a Goddamn crowbar could be a tool of death and destruction for you," he said. "I know it's already the preferred melee weapon of quantum physicists everywhere. Anything else?"

Hicks nodded. "Yes sir. What about the Bioweapons Division?" The response from Coyote was short and to the point.

"We see it, we burn it. Understood?"

"Crystal sir," Hicks said, just as the motion trackers went off.

_Thump, thump, DEET. Thump, DEET, thump, DEET, DEET, DEET…_

"Contacts, right behind us!" Thor said. Iceman nodded.

"Contacts confirmed! Sir, orders!" the smaller soldier asked, aiming his pulse rifle at the shadows.

"Follow the signs! Move it, now!" Coyote yelled out as the first wave of warriors came out to attack. They were all quickly mowed down by the hailstorm of fire coming from the pulse rifles, and the _slightly_ overkillable 20mm cannon carried around by Thor. The team slowly made its way to the elevators, trying to conserve ammunition as they went. They were all about twenty meters away when it happened.

_RATATATATATATATATA-CLINKCLINKCLINK!_

"I'm dry!" Thor yelled, stopping to take off the gatling gun from his right arm. Iceman turned to see his friend struggle to get the gun, and saw the advancing line of xenos.

"THOR, GET THAT ASS MOVING!" he roared, firing a grenade from his rifle. It sailed through the air and detonated, killing several bugs in one blast. Thor shook his head.

"I can't, the damn thing's stuck man!" Thor said, now starting to panic. Suddenly, a gun butt came down and shattered the final latch keeping the gun on Thor's arm. Looking up, he saw Iceman glare at his through his helmet's visor.

"Move dammit, move!" Iceman shouted as the aliens got closer. "Die you fuckers! You want a piece of this, huh? You want some, come and get it!"

"Thor, Iceman, get in here!" Hicks cried out from his position in the elevator, waiting with the others. The two soldiers turned and ran. Well, one did. The other tripped on an outstretched warrior tail, and fell to the floor.

"ICEMAN!" Thor yelled out as he reached the elevator. He tried to go out and save his friend, but the entire team restrained him as the doors closed. Whirling around, Thor exploded in Coyote's face. "What the fuck is wrong with you? I could have saved him dammit, I could have-"

"You could have died soldier," Coyote said coldly. Thor tensed up, ready to explode into fury when Hicks spoke up.

"Look, Thor, best you can do right now is find Weyland. We find him, and we can nuke this place to Hell, and kill every single one of those bugs," he said. Thor shook in fury, and then slumped in defeat.

"Yes sir," he whispered as the elevator continued up.

[][][]

_Weyland-Yutani Sector Zero_

_Mission Time: 00:20:25 Local Time: 09:15:54 P.M._

_Video Log: Pvt. Frost, Dean, Security Clearance: Grey_

Pain. That was what Frost was feeling at the moment as he came back to the land of the living. Shaking his head clear of fog, Frost suddenly woke all the way up as he saw that he was being dragged off by a xeno. Looking around, he saw that he still had his sidearm. With a grunt, Frost kicked his way out of the surprised alien's grasp and shot it repeatedly. Screeching in fury, the alien took two steps towards Frost when a lucky shot went through its mouth and came out the side of its head. Frost scrambled away from the dead creature and reloaded his pistol.

Checking his radio, Frost received only static. "Shit," he muttered as he looked at his immediate surroundings. It looked like he was close to the hive, if the amount of xeno shit plastered over every available service was any indication. Steeling his nerves, and quite unsure as to where the hell he was in the facility, Frost took a step into darkness.

Breathing heavily, Frost looked into each shadow as he walked slowly through the halls. Looking down at his HUD, Frost saw that the motion tracker down at the bottom was silent. Nothing big moving. That however, did little to calm his nerves. Coming to a T intersection, Frost looked left and right to see if there were any bugs. None appeared or made their presence known. Edging over to the wall, Frost tried scraping some of the hive material away to see if he could find a directory. Sad to say, he didn't. So, after a quick mental debate, Frost went to the left.

At the end of the hall, Frost reached a door that seemed to be sealed shut. Taking his bypass module, Frost pried open the control panel of the door and hooked his module to the inner wiring. Typing in the command to open the door, Frost waited for the module to work. With a hiss, the door unlocked, stratling Frost. Taking the module back, Frost grabbed the edges of the door and pulled them away from each other. After prying them far enough for him to squeeze through, Frost wiggled his way through and looked around the room. It seemed to be some sort of control room, and lying there on the ground were bodies. Only, they were barely human. The sight made Frost gag in disgust. Apparently the shit that had started the chaos on Tau Ceti was here as well. Looking around, Frost saw that there were three former security guards, all of them armed with M39 submachine guns. Taking one, Frost rummaged through the bodies and collected all the ammo he could for the gun, totaling somewhere around seven hundred rounds.

Done looking for ammo, Frost went up the control desks. Much of it made no sense whatsoever to the private, but one of the controls did strike his curiosity.

_Observation Shutter Control_

Wondering what could possibly go wrong, Frost switched it on. With a thunderous clang, the wall in front of Frost lifted away from the windows, allowing Frost to see what it was that the scientists would have seen in life. And what he saw shocked him. It was a xenomorph Queen, only, it didn't look like a Queen. For starters, it looked scarred, and quite heavily too. Second, the creature looked ancient, as her hide was pale and pockmarked. Third, there was something wrong with its mouth….

With a hiss audible to Frost in the control room, the Queen extended her head out and looked up at him. Frost recoiled in shock as he realized what had spawned this Queen. A Yautja. This thing was a so-called 'PredAlien,' and if the reports were to be believed, a threat close to that of a Ravager. Frost gulped and held his new SMG tighter. He suddenly felt the need to get a bigger gun. The Queen tilted her head at Frost and groaned in pain.

Frost felt something brush the back of his mind. Unsure of what the hell was happening, Forst whirled around, scanning for threats. Seeing nothing, not even a facehugger, Frost turned back to face the Queen. She groaned again, and Frost felt that feeling again. Looking at the controls, Frost found a microphone. Activating it, Frost hesistantly asked, "Am I going insane?" With a hiss, the Queen shook her head. Frost blinked and continued. "Umm, what do want from me, because I'm not exactly psychic."

The Queen turned her head to look down at a corpse nearby her. Frost looked to it, and then to the Queen. "You want me to kill you?" he asked. The Queen nodded slowly. Frost turned off the mic. "Okay," he said to himself, "All I need to do is kill a crazed xeno Queen. No pressure, right? Now, how can I do that from here?" Looking down at the myriad buttons and switches, Frost saw nothing that could help. Groaning in frustration, Frost turned and looked down at the bodies in the room and saw the distinctive shine of an M40 grenade casing. Scrambling down, he saw with delight that one guard had an ARMAT U1 grenade launcher, with several high-ex grenades. Taking them, Frost loaded the launcher with the grenades and attached it to the SMG. Taking aim, Frost shot out the windows with a long burst.

Hearing the cries of the xeno hive, Frost flicked the safety off the grenade launcher and aimed. Frost pulled the trigger, and seconds later, the Queen's crest blew apart. She screeched in pain, but Frost knew what he had to do. He fired again, aiming a tad bit lower, and this time was rewarded with the Queen's face being engulfed in the explosion. The alien whimpered one last time before Frost fired again, and ended her life. Suddenly the hive went into chaos as screeching abounded. Frost was about to leave when he felt something coming.

_THU-BOOM! THU-BOOM! THU-BOOOOM!_

The wall collapsed, revealing something that Frost did not want to see for the rest of his life; another Rogue. It took one look at the dead form of the Queen and roared in fury. As it did so, it turned its head and saw Frost. Growling, it howled in anger and took a step towards Frost. "ShitshitSHIT!" Frost quickly said as he rushed to the other door, eager to escape. He needed to get to the surface…and fast. Because this Rogue was right behind him.

[][][]

**Sorry for the delay in updates. Just that this thing called real life got to me. I've been trying to get into the Navy and get a job locally, so I haven't really been able to focus on this story as much as you would all like. That, and other stories have taken my time. But hey, how did you like this chapter? Besides, you guys knew that the Rogue would make an appearance eventually. So, now, what has happened with the rest of the team? Have they reached Weyland, and will Frost make it out of Sector Zero alive? Who knows, I haven't written that chapter yet, MWAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**Anyway, please, read and review, and tell me if I'm doing anything wrong.**

**The author, signing out.**


End file.
